Judith Kapinga, the deputy minister, said at the cheque handing ceremony over the weekend in Dar es Salaam that the cook fund programme is meant to accelerate adoption of clean cooking solutions by supporting entrepreneurs in the clean energy sector, to widen familiarisation.
The programme focuses on Dar es Salaam, Coast, Morogoro, Dodoma and Mwanza regions as a pilot phase, with other regions lined up for a new phase in future, she stated.
The cheques were handed to enterprises that were fully approved for the grant, expected to serve new beneficiaries in their respective areas over the next three years, she stated.
“With this support we are going to reach 503,119 new beneficiaries in their respective areas and create 748 direct and indirect jobs,” she asserted, hailing the successful applicants set to implement the programme.
Cedric Merel, the EU head of delegation, said the project will enable a visible contribution to private sector investments in clean cooking energy, in view of rapid urbanisation locally and globally, where solutions for clean cooking are urgently on demand.
The new grantees join 16 initial recipients, with UNDF acting as the fund managers and primary program implementer, offering on-going support to grant recipients.