Chairman Yumkella heightens Clean Cooking to Presidential Priority as Sierra Leone Moves from Strategy to Delivery

Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Climate Change, Renewable Energy, and Food Security (PI-CREF), has reaffirmed Sierra Leone’s firm commitment to clean cooking, stating that the issue is now a presidential priority as the country moves from planning to implementation.
Dr Yumkella stated at the National Clean Cooking Strategy Policy Familiarisation Workshop hosted by the Ministry of Energy that President Julius Maada Bio regards clean cooking as central to the national energy strategy and an important component of Sierra Leone’s Mission 300 Compact Framework. The workshop brought together government, regional, and development stakeholders to learn about national policy direction and practical delivery steps.
Dr Yumkella mentioned the recent establishment of a Clean Cooking Delivery Unit at PI-CREF that works in close collaboration with the Ministry of Energy. He explained that the unit was established to address a common issue across Africa: ambitious strategies that fail due to weak implementation mechanisms and poor interagency coordination. “The unit is now fully operational and positioned within the President’s Office, and it is designed to bridge that gap,” he said.
He praised Madam Aminata Wurie, who heads PI-CREF’s Clean Cooking Delivery Unit, for advancing the clean cooking agenda at both the national and regional levels. Dr Yumkella also cited the ECOWAS Commission’s collaboration with Sierra Leone and the Ministry of Energy in launching a major liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) initiative, co-hosted by the Office of the First Lady, as an example of the multi-stakeholder partnerships required to accelerate change.
While welcoming progress, Dr Yumkella was open about the size of the investment required to transform the sector. He estimated that hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars would be required to ensure affordable cylinders, secure gas supplies, robust distribution systems, and widespread access to clean cookstoves for women and households across the country.
To close the funding gap, he urged international partners and the private sector, including the International Energy Agency, to assist Sierra Leone in mobilising the significant resources needed to move from strategy to implementation, and from policy ambition to transformative impact on the ground.