The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Calle Schlettwein says the debt burden on many African countries restricts their financial resources and hinders their capacity to invest in programmes like clean cooking that promote sustainable development.
In his address at the Summit for Clean Cooking in Paris, France, Schlettwein highlighted that financing models based on further borrowing are not viable for addressing the clean cooking crisis in Africa.
“African economies are more often than not overburdened by debt with resultant lack of fiscal space. Funding models that assume more borrowing to solve the clean cooking crisis, therefore, would not offer a viable financing option for African economies. The current multilateral financial system therefore appears unfit for purpose and its review should become part and parcel of the clean cooking agenda as well as the climate change agenda as a whole,” he said.
He also stressed that both public and private sectors in Namibia and other African countries lack the financial capacity to realise these solutions.
He called for robust partnerships with industrialised nations, multinational corporations, and the global private sector to secure the necessary funding.
“A lack of financial capacity in both public and private sectors has impeded Namibia and many other African countries from realizing clean cooking. To finance the measures needed to bring about meaningful mitigation to this intersectional problem, there is a need for robust partnerships with industrialised countries, multinational companies and the global private sector,” he said.
Schlettwein also addressed the inequities in the carbon credit scheme which primarily benefits industrialised economies while overlooking the contributions of developing countries that create and protect carbon sinks.
He called for a fairer system that includes these efforts in the carbon credit framework to ensure they are valued and protected.
“On the other hand, those entities and economies who create new or protect existing carbon sinks, most of which are in developing and middle-income countries, are not included in the scheme. It would be fair therefore that the carbon credit scheme includes the creation and protection of carbon sinks. The risk that they are perceived valueless makes them even more vulnerable,” Schlettwein said.
He further emphasised that achieving clean cooking goes beyond the energy sector alone and outlined the necessity for an integrated approach that includes clean energy, water, food, utensils, and housing.
Schlettwein pointed out that financing clean cooking must also encompass water infrastructure, sanitation systems, and smart sheltering.
“Financing clean cooking is much more than financing an energy transition, it must include financing water infrastructure, sanitation systems and smart sheltering. In fact, it is an important component of financing poverty eradication,” he said.
