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Francis Hughes, 48, is part of a wave of Ghanaians and Senegalese who are buying more environmentally friendly cooling appliances.

Hughes, a science teacher from the Cape Coast in Ghana, has benefited from a scheme to purchase a new energy-efficient fridge and air conditioner supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

“Before, I was concerned about using non-energy efficient appliances that were bad for the environment and expensive to run,” said Hughes. “Now the appliances I have last longer, reduce climate change, are better for the environment and save me money on electricity bills.”

The ECOWAS Refrigerators and Air Conditioners Initiative (ECOFRIDGES) was launched in Ghana in October 2020, with Senegal following shortly after. The initiative was started to help make new energy efficient fridges and air conditioners affordable to consumers and to combat the dumping of energy inefficient products in Africa.

Since the launch of ECOFRIDGES, over 1,000 new, energy efficient fridges and air conditioners have been sold in Ghana and a similar ramp-up is anticipated in Senegal. A pilot phase will be starting in Rwanda in the new year and additional opportunities are being explored across Africa.

“The market dominance of outdated cooling appliances costs Africans dearly in terms of electricity bills, energy security, safety and the broader impacts on the planet,” said Brian Holuj, a Programme Management Officer at UNEP’s United for Efficiency (U4E). “We are working hard alongside officials, vendors and banks in Ghana and Senegal to make the best new technologies affordable and accessible while offering incentives that support the collection and recycling of used products.”

Not only can older appliances be dangerous, with non-authentic parts used in patch repairs, but they are inefficient, with refrigerators and air conditioners often consuming three times the electricity of appliances readily available in mature markets.

The inefficiency of cooling products adds further strain to stretched power grids and, when electricity is supplied by thermal power plants, increases air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Old or sub-standard refrigerators and air conditioners contain gases that can be released during repairs or after disposal. Some of those are greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more potent than refrigerants used in newer, more energy-efficient products.