BURN, Africa’s leading clean cookstove manufacturer, has secured a $5 million investment from the EU-funded Electrification Financing Initiative (ElectriFI) to expand electric cooking solutions across Kenya. The funding, managed by EDFI Management Company, will enable over 100,000 Kenyan households to transition to clean cooking technology.
The investment targets the distribution of BURN’s IoT-enabled ECOA Induction Cooker (ECOA IDC), which reduces household energy expenditure by 40-60% while generating carbon credits. The project is expected to eliminate approximately 1.4 million tons of CO₂ emissions over the product lifetime.
Despite 600 million Africans having grid access, many don’t utilize electricity for cooking, instead spending around $12 weekly on charcoal, wood, or LPG. The high upfront cost of electric cooking appliances remains a big barrier to adoption.
BURN’s solution incorporates Pay As You Cook (PAYC) technology, integrated with mobile money payment systems through the ECOA Mobile App. This allows users to make small, flexible payments via their phones, achieving full ownership within a year, making electric cooking financially accessible to low-income households.
The Nairobi-based company has already deployed over 40,000 induction cookers across East and West Africa, demonstrating the viability of locally designed and manufactured electric cooking solutions.
“Kenya’s electricity grid is over 90% renewable—yet more than 15 million households still cook with polluting fuels. This investment helps close that gap,” said Peter Scott, Founder and CEO of BURN.
“With over 40,000 ECOA induction cookers already in homes across East and West Africa, we’re proving that electric cooking—designed and built in Africa—can be the future of clean, affordable energy access at scale.”
The ElectriFI investment aligns with the European Union’s clean energy access and climate resilience objectives, demonstrating how targeted financing can drive sustainable impact.
BURN has established itself as a leader in clean cooking solutions, having distributed over 5 million clean cookstoves across Africa. These efforts have impacted approximately 25 million people and prevented more than 26 million tons of CO₂ emissions.
The company operates in 11 African countries with a workforce exceeding 3,000 employees. Beyond manufacturing and distribution, BURN has developed a vertically integrated carbon credit system, generating 9.5 million Gold Standard credits to date.
Their efficient stoves have reduced indoor air pollution by 65-100% and saved over 16 million tons of wood, contributing to forest protection.
