The International Energy Agency has warned that the LPG crisis triggered by the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz is threatening Africa’s progress in clean cooking, with sharply higher prices putting the fuel beyond the reach of many households and potentially worsening exposure to deadly household air pollution.
The warning comes amid the continued reliance of nearly two billion people worldwide on wood, charcoal and other polluting fuels for cooking, a practice linked to 2.5 million premature deaths annually from household air pollution, according to the IEA’s latest clean cooking report.
The agency said half of the nearly two billion people without access to clean cooking live in Africa, where progress in expanding access has accelerated but remains insufficient to keep pace with population growth.
“In Africa, physical supplies largely remained available, but sharply higher prices put LPG beyond the reach of many households, especially in markets without state-set fuel pricing like Nigeria and Uganda,” the IEA stated.
The development is significant for Nigeria, where LPG has become an increasingly important alternative to firewood, charcoal and kerosene for household cooking. A sustained rise in LPG prices could force some low-income households to return to more polluting cooking fuels.
