BURN has signed an 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 includes both debt and results-based financing through TDB and its concessional arm, the Trade and Development Fund (TDF). It 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. It is an 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. They 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.