hopefully, they can skip the transition period like they skipped over landline and went directly to cellular.
A bit late. While much of Africa has unreliable power. Including many more industrialised nations. Solid fuel power stations and majority urban areas have been wired for decades.
Solar has just been a needed backup for well off homes. That is now dropping to others.
This is a solid point but it kinda misses how fast things are changing. It’s totally true that solar started as a rich person’s backup generator, but that’s not the whole story anymore. The real shift is happening off-grid in developing countries. Places in Ethiopia and Nigeria are seeing solar become the main power source for entire villages, not just a backup, and it’s actually kickstarting local economies.
Also, the energy transition in Africa is way more complex than just connecting homes to the grid. A lot of people who are technically connected can’t even afford to use the power or it’s so unreliable they still use wood. The real opportunity is that renewables could actually drive massive development, like in Kenya and Morocco. The huge problem, though, is the insane lack of funding and the structural barriers holding everything back. They get almost none of the global investment needed to make this happen.
The article is paywalled, here is a summary:
In May 2025, African countries imported a combined 1.57 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels from China, an all-time high. This monthly volume represents approximately three-quarters of the Hoover Dam’s capacity. Notably, this surge isn’t limited to relatively affluent nations like South Africa but includes at least 22 African countries that increased imports during the first five months of 2025, with most doubling their previous year’s numbers.
Algeria exemplifies this trend with a 6,300% increase in solar panel imports from China during the first half of 2025, reaching 0.76 GW. Even less developed countries like Chad have imported enough panels to theoretically replace their entire current power generation capacity.
China’s role as the global solar panel manufacturing leader is pivotal, producing over 80% of the world’s panels due to government subsidies, economies of scale, and technological advancements. While Europe and North America were previously the primary export markets, Africa is now emerging as a key destination.
