November 17, 2024

Good morning. Welcome to our weekly Sunday newsletter. We will dive into how Africa is transitioning to clean cooking, learn how HBCUs are offering online educational opportunites and find out who is launching a sports network highlighting women in sports.

How Clean Cooking in Africa Could Save Lives and Slash Emissions — A Look at Nigeria's Path Forward

By Maria Yetano Roche and Temilade Sesan

In Africa, where four out of five people rely on wood, charcoal, and other polluting fuels for cooking, Nigeria faces one of the region’s most acute challenges. The use of traditional cooking fuels in open fires or inefficient stoves generates harmful pollutants, contributing to over 700,000 premature deaths annually across Africa. In rural Nigeria, only 5% of people have access to clean cooking fuels, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or electricity. Nigeria’s government has set an ambitious goal to transition the country to clean cooking energy by 2060, adopting the National Clean Cooking Policy to drive this change.

Despite efforts, Nigeria’s clean cooking transition has been threatened by inflation and a cost-of-living crisis that has driven up LPG prices. Research shows that moving from wood to cleaner fuels like LPG could prevent over 200,000 premature deaths each year, including more than 44,000 among young children, and reduce deforestation. Researchers modeled several scenarios, including a “business as usual” case where no new interventions are made, which would result in a dramatic rise in premature deaths. Conversely, an “ambitious transformative” scenario would see a large-scale shift to clean cooking, saving over 7 million lives over the next three decades.

To achieve this transformation, Nigeria needs significant investment, improved policies, and targeted efforts to make clean cooking affordable and accessible. Recommendations include aligning government energy plans with economic realities, expanding access to financing for clean cooking equipment and ensuring reliable supply infrastructure. Countries like Brazil and Indonesia have shown that a rapid shift to healthier, cleaner cooking is possible with strong political commitment. Nigeria must now move from commitments to decisive action to accelerate its clean cooking transition. 

For more details on this topic, visit KISARadio.org.

campus chronicles // hbcu edition

Albany State University (Albany, Georgia) has announced the establishment of ASURams Global, a new strategic unit within Academic Affairs designed to elevate the university’s online learning and continuing education initiatives. 

Lincoln University of Missouri has announced the opening of enrollment for its Master of Arts in Higher Education program with a Historically Black Colleges Universities concentration. This online degree is available for both spring and fall 2025 and aims to equip education professionals with the essential skills to address the unique challenges and opportunities facing HBCUs. 

Jay-Z is supporting HBCUs in a big way. The Shawn Carter Foundation will launch empowering financial education programs in 2025 at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Norfolk State University in Virgina and Virginia State University before expanding to other HBCUs. The goal of the program is to improve students’ financial literacy and guide them to build wealth after college.

our community in numbers

• Black Americans express significant concerns about media representation. Close to 40% stated that news coverage fails to focus on issues important in our community.

• Homeownership rates remain lower than the national average, with only about 44% of Black households owning their homes compared to 65% for all U.S. households.

• In a recent Pew Research study regarding healthcare in America, six-in-ten Black adults (61%) say the care they received most recently was either excellent (25%) or very good (36%), and another 25% say it was good. Fifty-one percent say their out-of-pocket cost for that care was “about what is fair.”

black history in quotes 

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culture

Comedian and TV host Whoopi Goldberg has launched the All Women's Sports Network, a 24/7 global channel that will showcase events such as the UEFA Women's Nations League, the WTA Tour and FIBA 3x3 Women's Series. The network, available in 65 countries, emphasizes Goldberg's vision of showcasing all women's sports.

During a recent appearance on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Goldberg revealed that the idea to launch the AWSN came to her 16 years ago. She said that the network would show every sport that women are playing, with a mix of live and delayed broadcasts of games to be offered.

Our editor, Lisa D.Tinsley, would like to thank you for spending part of your day with KISA News Radio.

See you next Sunday.

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