A better life for two million households in Africa through the implementation of domestic biogas plants was the ambitious target set at a May 2007 conference in Nairobi, Kenya, organized by the Biogas Africa Initiative.
This article goes into the past of biogas in Africa, its technical potential and current biogas needs. Further, it reports the launching of the Africa Biogas Initiative in May 2007 in Nairobi and the endorsement of the business plan, which aims to install 20 million biogas plants in Africa by 2020. The vision of the Initiative is to succeed in the implementation of biogas technology in African countries as a market-oriented partnership between governments, private sector players, civil society agents and international development partners. The specific targets of the initiative to be achieved by 2020 are presented in the article. The article also presents a short explanation of the guiding principles for national programmes and it concludes with activities in Africa at country level and the way forward.