Solar energy in sub-Saharan Africa

Latest Articles

02/10/2024
Africa Policy Research Institute

The new industrial age, fueled by the manufacturing of several mineral-intensive transition technologies, offers potential opportunities for industrialization and structural transformation, particularly in mineral-rich developing regions such as Africa.

The industries fuelling the climate crisis are draining public funds in the Global South

01/10/2024
ActionAid
Article

The world’s money is flowing in the wrong direction. The climate crisis is really about money: too much money is fuelling climate change, too little money is going to climate solutions, and extractive money flows are locking economies deeper into climate-destructive spirals that deepen inequality.

In Nigeria’s Off-Grid Communities, Solar-Powered Electricity is Improving Primary Healthcare Delivery

28/09/2024
Arinze Chijioke
Article

Augustine Joseph was fully aware of the dire power supply situation in Fish Town when he arrived to establish a healthcare centre in November 2021. Fish Town, located in the coastal Bayelsa State, is an oil-producing community that had endured decades without any government or privately-sourced electricity.

Powering Africa: new model compares options for off-grid solar in 43 countries

25/09/2024
Hamish Beath
Article

Sub-Saharan Africa, home to 80% of the global population without electricity access, is unlikely to reach the United Nations’ goal of access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.

Replacing Old Technologies or Creating New Markets?: The Pros and Cons of Two Paths to Impact for Productive Use of Energy

23/09/2024
Daniel Waldron, Chris Emmott, Yash Vardhan Gaddhyan and Ruth Wairimu
Article

Transformative technologies may start by making us more efficient, but it’s when they are embedded in new business models that they fundamentally change the way that we live and work. For instance, trains began as “faster horses” aiming to displace wagons, and ended up enabling modern industry.

The insanity of cheap electricity in Zambia

20/09/2024
Michael Chishala
Article

Any one of us given a choice between cheap power available for only 3 hours every 2 days versus electricity that is 5 times more expensive but available 24/7 will take the expensive power any day.

One County in Rural Kenya Is Using Clean Energy to Close its Electricity Gap

17/09/2024
Benson Ireri, Victor T. Otieno, Dimitris Mentis, Douglas Ronoh, Anderson Ngowa
Article

Makueni County Referral Hospital is the biggest health facility in its area of rural Kenya, treating approximately 500 patients a day in a region where modern infrastructure can be hard to come by. But its operations are costly. The local government spends about Ksh. 24 million ($187,000) each year on the facility’s electricity bills alone.

Meet the Winners of the Digital Energy Solutions Award

15/09/2024
Startup|Energy
Article

Access to clean energy remains a considerable challenge and a top govement priority in Kenya. Digital innovations become essential for optimization, monitoring, regulation and financing. Startup|Energy has called on innovators and spin-offs from Kenyan universities to take part in the Award for Digital Innovations in Clean Energy .

Powering Rwanda: Expanding Energy Access Amid Rural and Refugee Disparities

13/09/2024
CoE-EDP, VisionRI
Article

The Rwanda Energy Survey highlights significant progress in expanding electricity access, with 63.9% of households now connected,though rural areas and refugee camps still face substantial gaps in both electricity and clean cooking services. Targeted policies are needed to address these disparities and advance toward universal energy access by 2030