Burn Partners With TDB Group To Deliver Clean Cooking Solutions To Over 400,000 Households In Southern Africa

BURN, Africa’s leading clean cookstove manufacturer and carbon project developer, has signed a landmark agreement with the Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group) to scale access to clean cooking in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Zambia. The deal, which includes both debt and results-based financing through TDB and its concessional arm, the Trade and Development Fund (TDF), will enable BURN to deliver its clean cooking appliances to 430,000 households across the region.

The partnership is part of TDB Group’s new ASCENT Platform, supported by the World Bank under Mission 300, an ambitious initiative to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030, half through distributed renewable energy (DRE) and clean cooking solutions.

The agreement will support the rollout of BURN’s industry-leading ECOA biomass and IoT-enabled induction cookstoves, which are designed to reduce emissions, eliminate indoor air pollution, and lower household fuel costs. Once deployed, these stoves will generate CORSIA-eligible, ICVCM-compliant carbon credits at scale. The project is expected to positively impact over 2.1 million people and prevent approximately 3 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

Peter Scott, Founder and CEO, BURN said: “BURN is delighted to partner with TDB Group to bring our revolutionary induction and biomass cookstoves to 429,127 households across Mozambique, DRC and Zambia. This ‘first of its kind’ investment will utilize TDB Group funds to provide a significant subsidy to customers in exchange for the future value of the carbon credits. BURN’s IoT-enabled cooking appliances are setting a new standard for carbon credit integrity as well as setting higher pricing, providing significant upside to TDB Group, BURN and our customers. BURN is confident that this will be the first of many such deals with TDB and similar institutions.  Enormous thanks to TDB Group, TDF, World Bank Ascent and my team for all the effort over the years to get this deal over the line.”

“This platform and partnership represent the kind of bold, regional innovation we need to close the energy access gap,” said Erik Fernstrom, World Bank incoming Regional Director for Infrastructure for Eastern and Southern Africa. “By enabling African entrepreneurs to grow and deliver at scale, ASCENT is a vital part of Mission 300 – and of the regional push to achieve universal access. This is just the beginning.”

Mary Kamari, TDF Executive Director, added: “The Trade and Development Fund (TDF), with the deployment of performance-based grants to support qualifying energy companies, demonstrates how it is possible to blend commercial and catalytic finance, leveraging digital technology to tackle one of the continent’s most profound challenges: access to modern and clean energy.”

This announcement comes as BURN continues to expand its footprint across the continent. Since 2011, the company has sold over 5.4 million clean cooking appliances and currently operates in 14 African countries, with production facilities in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Malawi.

ABOUT BURN

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, BURN is Africa’s leading clean cooking company and one of the only carbon project developers to cover the full carbon value chain, from project design and in-house monitoring to credit issuance. The company operates across 11 African countries, employing 3,000+ people.  To date, BURN's efficient stoves have generated 9.5M Gold Standard credits, reduced indoor air pollution by 65-100%, and protected forests by saving over 16M tons of wood. Learn more at burnstoves.com.  

About TDB Group

Established in 1985, the Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group) is an African regional multilateral development bank, with a mandate to finance and foster trade, regional economic integration, and sustainable development in Africa. TDB Group counts several subsidiaries and strategic business units including Trade and Development Banking, TDB Asset Management (TAM), the Trade and Development Fund (TDF), TDB Captive Insurance Company (TCI), the ESATAL fund management company and TDB Academy.

About TDF

The Trade and Development Fund (TDF) supports the sustainable development agendas of its Member States by providing them with alternative financing solutions, including concessional and impact-driven funding, technical assistance and program management services.TDF’s initiatives serve a wide range of stakeholders, from sovereign entities to financially underserved groups such as MSMEs, women, and youth.

About World Bank Group

The World Bank Group has a bold vision: to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. In more than 100 countries, the World Bank Group provides financing, advice, and innovative solutions that improve lives by creating jobs, strengthening economic growth, and confronting the most urgent global development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It consists of the World Bank, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org, www.miga.org, and www.ifc.org.