Greenplinth partners Lagos for implementation of 80m clean cookstoves project

Greenplinth Africa has commenced the implementation phase of the 80-million Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM)-Compliant clean cookstoves project in partnership with the Lagos State Government.

The initiative that aims to deploy 80 million highly efficient, clean cookstoves across Nigeria commenced with a 3-day implementation retreat, themed, ‘Clean Cooking Access for Africa – Leaving No One Behind,’ in Lagos on Tuesday March 4, 2025.

Lagos State will serve as the anchor, distributing 6 million clean cookstoves at no cost to beneficiaries through the Office of Climate Change and Circular Economy (OCCE) under the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget.

While the distribution of 6 million clean cookstoves is expected to commence in Makoko by June 2025, the project will also pay each beneficiaries ₦10,000 monthly under its pay-to-cook initiative, which includes Health Insurance Coverage for each beneficiary household.

Olawale Akinwumi, President/CEO, Greenplinth Africa, said the project would create over 3.5 million green jobs, establish a forex-denominated, sovereign green endowment fund for sustainable development, and improve the health and well-being of Nigerians, especially women and children.

According to him, Greenplinth is also partnering with Carbon AI, Canada, a carbon data assurance and metering technologies organisation to ensure the highest standards of measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV).

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“Through their state-of-the-art “Spark” metering system, we will introduce unprecedented transparency, real-time monitoring, and robust accountability frameworks to track carbon savings and compliance offsets,” Akinwumi said.

According to him, the partnership with Carbon AI will further solidify Nigeria’s credibility in global compliance carbon markets, ensuring that Nigeria’s carbon offset data meets the highest international standards attracting confidence from investors, regulators, and climate finance institutions.

Akinwumi also disclosed that the initiative would adopt a bottom-up approach to climate literacy and green development to drive the project’s community impact. According to him, 80M clean cookstoves project is a social impact revolution that will allocate ₦750 million annually to each of Lagos’ 57 LGAs/LCDAs for green development.

“To ensure economic and social prosperity, we must shift focus away from unreliable voluntary markets and position compliance carbon trading as Nigeria’s primary climate finance pathway,” Akinwumi added.

According to Akinwumi, Titilayo Oshodi, the Special Adviser on Climate Change and Circular Economy (OCCE), will lead the compliance team of the project in ensuring seamless implementation, delivery compliance, and stakeholder engagement.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor, through a speech read by Bode Agoro, the Lagos State Head of Service, stated that the initiative marks a pivotal step in positioning Lagos as a leader in clean energy access and climate finance innovation across Africa.

According to Sanwo-Olu, the project will unlock multi-billion-dollar green revenue streams and creates 35 million green jobs over its lifespan, by generating 1.2 billion tons of compliance-grade carbon offsets.

“At its core lies the world’s largest PACM-compliant clean cookstoves project—a groundbreaking effort that transcends environmental impact to drive economic growth and accelerate social development,” he stated.

The initiative will also include planting 300 million economic trees across Badagry, Epe, and Ikorodu, which is expected to create about 80,000 jobs by establishing a state-of-the-art clean cookstove manufacturing facility that will add 13,000 permanent jobs to Lagos economy.

He also said that workers employed by Greenplinth Africa would earn a minimum monthly wage of ₦100,000, which is about 43% above national standards. Also, every community engaged in the project would benefit from seven ESG-aligned development projects and an annual ₦750 million green development fund distributed across all LGAs and LCDAs.