Somalia’s Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Abdillahi Bidhan, met with officials of the OPEC Fund for International Development on the sidelines of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Riyadh on Friday.

Bidhan and the OPEC officials discussed ways of exploring potential collaborations for advancing Clean Cooking Programs in the East African nation.

The discussions highlighted the importance of initiating a pilot project designed to address critical areas such as:

• Developing clean cooking infrastructure, aimed at reducing reliance on traditional biomass and mitigating indoor air pollution.
• Community empowerment, by involving local stakeholders and promoting sustainable practices for long-term adoption.

The scalable nature of the proposed pilot could pave the way for broader implementation, aligning with Somalia’s goals of achieving sustainable energy solutions and improving public health outcomes.

This engagement reflects Somalia’s commitment to leveraging international partnerships to tackle environmental and social challenges effectively.