PayGo Energy Acquisition Marks Sun King’s First Step Towards Developing Clean Cooking Solutions

Drawing on its experience delivering solar energy products to 95 million underserved consumers in Africa and Asia, Sun King acquires PayGo Energy to develop clean cooking solutions for the three billion people reliant on wood and charcoal cookstoves.

Sun King, the largest off-grid energy company in Africa and Asia, has acquired , a leading innovator in pay-as-you-go technology for clean cooking. The company will take a technology-agnostic approach to developing products and services that allow families to transition from wood and charcoal cookstoves to safer, modern appliances that better protect people and the planet.

Sun King will seek to develop a range of cooking products powered by solar energy, liquified petroleum gas (LPG), electrical grids and other energy sources. The range of products will be paired with consumer financing services that allow African and Asian customers to pay for energy and equipment in small, affordable instalments.

PayGo Energy’s team of 40 employees in Nairobi is moving less than a mile down the road to Sun King’s office, now expanded to include a lab and workspace for Sun King’s new Clean Cooking Team.

The Dirty Cooking Problem

The benefits of switching to clean cooking – using modern stoves and fuels – are both substantial and diverse, ranging from reductions in carbon emissions and unsustainable deforestation to improved health and gender outcomes. 

Globally, three billion people depend on open wood fires and charcoal stoves to cook food.  The resulting smoke and respiratory disease are leading causes of early death in Africa and Asia, disproportionately impacting women who are more exposed to the fumes. Women also bear the time burden of collecting wood and tending fires. 

Cooking with wood and charcoal is a major contributor to global warming, accounting for approximately 2% of global carbon emissions, on par with the carbon emissions of the entire global air travel industry. Demand for wood and charcoal drives deforestation and destroys biodiversity.

Wood and charcoal costs are exorbitantly expensive, consuming upwards of one-quarter of many African households’ income. Sun King data shows that many customers spend five times as much money on wood and charcoal for cooking as they do on power and light. 

Sun King’s Clean Cooking Ambitions

Sun King’s new Clean Cooking Team are working on a range of clean cooking products and services to help families transition from wood- and charcoal-based cooking to clean, safe and more environmentally friendly alternatives. The breadth of clean cooking product range reflects customers’ diverse cooking practices and available energy supplies.     

Access to finance is a major barrier to clean cooking for hundreds of millions of households.  Even though modern stoves and energy sources are cheaper in the long run, their high upfront costs keep families trapped paying more for labour-intensive and health-damaging fuels like charcoal. Sun King’s Clean Cooking Team are developing technology-enabled products and pay-as-you-go consumer financing services to break down financial barriers to purchasing modern cooking equipment.