Charlot Magayi

Charlot Magayi (born c. 1993) is a Kenyan stove designer, climate activist and an Earthshot Prize winner in 2022. She and her company Mukuru Stoves were awarded a million pounds. Her success led her to be called "Queen of Africa" by William, Prince of Wales.

Life

Magayi was brought up in Mukuru slums in Nairobi. She became an orphan when she was ten. When she was sixteen and still at school, she gave birth to her daughter. She had to leave school to make a living for her and her daughter and she took to selling charcoal which was used locally for cooking. The fumes from the charcoal affected her and her daughter, and they repeatedly had respiratory tract infections. Magayi's daughter was burnt by their charcoal stove when she was two years old. It is estimated that charcoal and wood are used for cooking by 950 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (c. 2022) and within 30 years the number may be 1.6 billion. These sources are heavily polluting. The stove she designed sells for an affordable $10, and it reduces pollution to 10% compared with traditional cooking and it uses much less charcoal.

In 2018, she won the SDGs and Her award organised by UN Women. She was one of two winners; the other was the Tanzanian company WomenChoice Industries which is owned by Lucy Odiwa.

On 2 December 2022 she was announced as one of the five winners of the Earthshot Prize, which makes £1m available to her to develop her idea and reduce emissions from cooking.

Magayi and her company were not the only Kenyans involved with the Earthshot Prize; another winner was the Swedish Roam company with their electric vehicle Clean Our Air which has links to Kenya.