By Jane Fullah
Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio on Tuesday launched a regional liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) initiative, announcing a pilot scheme to distribute 10,000 clean cooking gas canisters to households as part of efforts to curb pollution and improve public health.
The programme, led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), was unveiled at a policy dialogue in Freetown bringing together regional officials, development partners and private sector actors to expand access to safer cooking alternatives across West Africa.
Bio said access to clean cooking energy remained both a development and health priority, citing estimates that nearly 10,000 Sierra Leoneans died in 2021 from air pollution linked to firewood and charcoal use.
“What we confront today is not confined to Sierra Leone but Africa as a whole. Lack of access to clean cooking demands our collective response,” he said.
He added that indoor air pollution disproportionately affects women and children, tying the issue to poverty and inequality, and called for stronger private sector investment in clean energy solutions.
The government has set up a Clean Cooking Delivery Unit to coordinate reforms since Bio took office in 2018, he said, urging stakeholders to accelerate adoption and support women’s participation in the energy value chain.
First Lady Fatima Maada Bio said the reliance on open-fire cooking continued to expose families to harmful smoke, including in schools under the national feeding programme.
“This must change,” she said, calling for cleaner systems nationwide.
Energy Minister Cyril Arnold Grant said 72% of households depend on firewood and 22% on charcoal, while only about 1.5% use clean cooking solutions, describing energy poverty as a driver of poor health and gender inequality.
Regional figures including Rachel Ruto and Samira Bawumia also addressed the event, urging faster adoption of clean cooking technologies across Africa.
Officials from the Clean Cooking Alliance and Sierra Leone’s environment ministry backed the initiative, which authorities say will help reduce emissions, improve health outcomes and expand economic opportunities for women.
The launch marks a step in Sierra Leone’s efforts to transition to cleaner household energy, though challenges remain in scaling access and affordability nationwide.
