The African Development Bank, the continent’s biggest multilateral lender, has said it will allocate $2 billion to promote clean cooking in Africa over the next decade.

The pledge amounts to 20 per cent of the lender’s annual spending on energy, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said at an International Energy Agency conference on clean cooking in Africa on Tuesday in Paris.

Today, 2.3 billion people worldwide still cook their meals on open fires or on basic stoves, breathing in harmful smoke released from burning solid fuels such as coal, charcoal, firewood, and agricultural wastes.

The smoke contributes to 3.7 million premature deaths annually, with women and children most at risk, given that in most cultures, women fulfill the task of delivering meals for the entire household.

“To solve this problem, you don’t need to discover new technology,” said Dr. Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA. “You need financial resources and the right policies to implement,” he added during his speech.

Norway, co-chair of the Summit pledged approximately $50 million, continuing ‘to be a trusted partner for our friends in Africa,’ said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.