Advancing Clean Cooking: Regional Webinar Calls for Policy Harmonisation, Standards and Labelling for Electric Cooking Solutions

The EAC Regional Clean Cooking Network convenes clean cooking stakeholders across the 8 EAC Partner States and beyond to deliberate on pressing issues around energy access, with a particular focus on clean cooking in the region. These events foster dialogue that firm up actionable priorities by different actors towards advancing the adoption of clean cooking as a development priority. Since its inception, the quarterly webinar series on clean cooking has grown into a pivotal convening space where science, development and diplomacy intersect for both national and regional progress. The previous sessions have imparted knowledge and advanced actionable recommendations that guide contextualization of solutions across the region. On 16^th July 2026, EACREEE convened another webinar in its Regional Clean Cooking Webinar Series under the theme “Regional Policy Harmonisation: Standards and Labels for Electric Cooking Solutions in the East African Community.” The webinar explored opportunities for scaling up electric cooking across the region by leveraging the harmonisation of standards and labels. The event brought together experts from across the region, including Ms Anneth Eliahu, Government Relations Lead with Burn-Manufacturing- Tanzania, Eng. Spiradson Kagaba, Senior Standards Officer with Tanzania Bureau of Standards and Mr Jackson Mutegeki, Quality Assurance Officer, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development of the Republic of Uganda. During the opening session, which focused on the Current status and prospects for Standards and labels for the electric cooking market transformation across the East African Community, Mr Mike Ofuya, Senior Programme Associate at CLASP, highlighted the critical role of harmonised standards and energy labels in accelerating the adoption of electric cooking technologies, facilitating regional trade, and enhancing consumer confidence in clean cooking solutions.

Key takeaways relevant for the East African Community

• Regional standards and labelling for clean cooking are essential for reducing compliance costs associated with information asymmetry, expanding markets, and unlocking investment in local manufacturing, assembly, repair, and maintenance of electric cooking products. This, in turn, enhances industrial competitiveness and supports the growth of the clean cooking market.
• Developing a common regional standard that can be domesticated by Partner States eliminates the need for each country to duplicate financial and technical efforts in developing separate standards and labelling systems. Instead, countries can build on a shared framework, creating a larger, integrated market with consistent product offerings, reliable technologies, economies of scale, and increased investor confidence.
• A robust standards and labelling ecosystem should incorporate user-centred parameters, including usability and handling characteristics, alongside technical performance and safety testing. This ensures that electric cooking appliances are safe, reliable, and fit for purpose.
• The availability of repair services, spare parts, and skilled technicians is essential for maintaining electric cooking appliances, strengthening consumer confidence, and ensuring long-term adoption of clean cooking technologies.
• Increased consumer awareness, coupled with financial incentives from governments and development partners, is necessary to ensure that the cost of clean cooking technologies does not become a barrier for low-income households transitioning to electric cooking.

Regional policy harmonisation requires close collaboration among clean cooking stakeholders, standards bodies, policymakers, and other relevant institutions across the EAC Partner States. EACREEE remains committed to working closely with its partners to develop and harmonise regional standards and labelling frameworks for electric cooking technologies, while complementing these efforts with other strategic interventions to realise the full economic, environmental, and social benefits of clean cooking.

Did you miss the webinar? Access the recording via the details below:

Webinar Recording:

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/zAn_5yPhTFc6mxb5Q0RZmaBwJq1F_u-bP13dJF04LrGrE9MnYmwMVp0aWkRlvdy4.UUXVyusRMaEsLT_b

Passcode: .5z3?0@d