Africa’s renewable energy revolution needs careful management to avoid a toxic waste crisis, to prevent people from burning and burying old solar panels. A lack of effective management means that more than a million old solar panels, containing potentially toxic materials, have been broken up, burnt or buried in Zambia.

Zambian rural communities are experiencing a new dawn as the smart village project, which was launched through the collaboration of Huawei Technologies and the government of Zambia, comes to fruition.

We spoke with Helen Zulu, Director for Southern Africa at ENGIE Energy Access, who shares the social impact mini-grids are having on rural communities, the innovative Demand Stimulation Initiative that underpins commercial sustainability, and the regulatory reforms needed to attract investors and scale up mini-grid deployment across Zambia.

In Zambia, the first of 250 solar-powered clinics was inaugurated under Gavi’s Health Facility Solarization Electrification (HFSE) program. The $28 million international project aims to provide reliable, clean energy to 1,277 health facilities across Zambia, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Uganda.

The healthcare sector in Zambia will be significantly bolstered through a solar PV project designed to improve services and maintain the cold chain integrity for medication at around 250 clinics.

The ASCENT Zambia project not only focuses on connecting Zambians living in remote and underserved communities, it also aims to supply reliable and affordable power to businesses and industries in Zambia which will in turn support economic growth and job creation.

Despite their significance, MSMEs face the triple challenge of low productivity, poor working conditions and high vulnerability to economic, political and environmental shocks. Women, young workers and entrepreneurs operating in the informal economy are particularly vulnerable and face additional constraints.