Charlote Magayi
Charlot Magayi is a Kenyan social entrepreneur turning the daily act of cooking into a catalyst for health, climate, and economic change. Raised in Nairobi’s Mukuru informal settlement, she lost her mother to a cooking‐fire accident at 10 and, years later, watched her own toddler suffer severe burns from a charcoal stove. The experience propelled her to found Mukuru Clean Stoves in 2017.
Magayi’s team re-engineered the traditional jiko, replacing scrap-metal walls and smoky fuels with insulated ceramic liners and sustainably sourced biomass briquettes. The result is a stove that cuts toxic emissions by up to 80 percent, halves fuel costs, and retails for under US $10. By 2025 the enterprise had sold more than 400,000 units, reaching two million people across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania while supporting a network of women sales agents who earn commission-based incomes.
Her impact has earned global recognition: she won the 2022 Earthshot Prize in the “Clean Our Air” category, was named to Forbes Africa 30 Under 30, and serves on the World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund advisory panel. Magayi reinvests profits into R&D for ethanol and electric models and partners with micro-lenders to offer pay-as-you-cook plans, advancing her vision of a continent where no family sacrifices health or the planet for a hot meal.