Time is running out to accelerate the clean energy sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The challenge is not a lack of solutions, but a lack of investment. Because investors still perceive the sector as too risky, the financing needed to scale up remains severely limited.

Yet, another approach is possible. By reducing financial risks for investors, we can support businesses producing and distributing these solutions. In doing so, we can gradually replace the toxic smoke of traditional wood-burning stoves with cleaner alternatives, mobilize greater volumes of capital, and build a strong economic ecosystem around clean cooking. With this objective in mind, a UNCDF call for expressions of interest is currently open to identify clean cooking enterprises and financial institutions interested in contributing to the development of this market.

Maman Esther, a user of improved cookstoves, highlights a practical solution supported by CAFI that can reduce fuel consumption by up to 60 percent. Photo: Othniel Lukusa, UNDP

In the DRC, more than 90 percent of households still rely on makala (charcoal) and firewood for cooking. The consequences are severe: accelerated deforestation, crippling household air pollution, and mounting economic pressure on families.

Globally, 2.1 billion people still lack access to clean cooking solutions. This deficit results in millions of premature deaths each year from indoor air pollution, alongsidestaggering economic losses. Women and girls bear the heaviest burden, often spending hours collecting firewood at the expense of their education and income-generatingopportunities.

Clean cooking is far from a niche issue; it sits at the intersection of climate action, energy access, health, gender equality, and economic development. In the DRC, as elsewhere, it is both a development priority and a critical lever for easing pressure on forests, improving public health, and driving a more inclusive energy transition. Yet despite its strategic importance, the sector has not yet achieved the scale required to meet today's and tomorrow's challenges.

The alternatives already exist. Companies are developing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution models, manufacturing improved cookstoves, and producingsustainable fuels like briquettes and pellets. However, many high-potential businesses still struggle to secure financing. According to World Bank data, 92 percent of Congolese SMEs rely exclusively on their own resources to survive, driven by a stark lack of tailored bank lending products.

An employee of Brisol SARL manufactures an improved cookstove in Goma, designed to use ecological briquettes produced from biodegradable household waste. Photo: Teresa Le, UNCDF.

For many investors, the sector remains relatively new, creating uncertainty when it comes to extending credit. Business models are still emerging, value chains remainfragmented, collateral is limited, and in low-income markets, demand is often perceived as unpredictable. As a result, these businesses find themselves trapped in the notorious "missing middle": they are too mature to rely solely on grants, yet they lack the guarantees, financial track records, or stable revenues needed to access commercial finance.

The real challenge today is no longer proving that clean energy solutions exist. It is about creating the financial conditions that allow the market to prove it is essential to the energy transition, economically viable, and attractive to capital.

Over the past decade, the Government of the DRC and its development partners have laid the groundwork for the country's energy sector. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity and the Ministry of Environment, the country has progressively developed a National Energy Policy and a National Clean Cooking Strategy, which is currently being formalized.

On the ground, these policy advances have been backed by a joint program implemented by UNDP and UNCDF, funded by CAFI. This programme has helped structure the sector, strengthen coordination, and send clear signals of long-term commitment.

More concretely, the program has supported and financed 16 Congolese SMEs leading the energy transition. For households, the impact has been tangible: more than two million Congolese have gained access to improved cooking solutions, including modern cookstoves and LPG, reducing their dependence on traditional makala. This energy transition has saved more than 350,000 tonnes of firewood, providing concrete proof that a greener, locally driven, job-creating economy can take root in the DRC.

A technician welds an improved cookstove during the manufacturing process. The blue stoves shown are produced by BRISOL, one of the MSMEs supported through the programme. Photo: Teresa Le, UNCDF.

The approach was built on a simple idea: combine a strong regulatory framework with appropriate financial instruments to better distribute risk and enable capital to flow. On one hand, UNDP focused on supporting public institutions to establish the foundations of a sustainable market and strengthen sector coordination. On the other hand, UNCDF mobilized catalytic financing to remove barriers to private investment.

Through this complementary approach, local enterprises strengthened their operational capacities, while financial institutions began engaging with the sector in a more structured manner.

The programme mobilized $22.5 million from an initial investment of $1.5 million, attracting funding from local commercial banks, pan-African and international investors, and climate funds—representing a leverage ratio of 15:1. Catalytic finance demonstrated its ability to attract substantial volumes of public and private capital when risks are appropriately structured.

This first phase, led in partnership with UNDP, established the foundations needed for scale. Building on this progress, UNCDF has launched a new $ 50 million national investment programme in the DRC. The programme aims to strengthen the pipeline of investment-ready businesses, deepen partnerships with Congolese financialinstitutions, develop risk-sharing mechanisms, and support the scaling of cleaner cooking solutions to sustainably reduce pressure on forests.

For those already engaged in the sector, as well as those considering entering it, this is a pivotal moment. The actors who commit today will determine the speed and scaleof this transformation. UNCDF's call for expressions of interest is open on a rolling basis to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as financial institutions, with applications reviewed monthly on the 15th of each month.