Written by Bashir Mubiru, Energy Transition Campaigner, People of Asia for Climate Solutions
For much of modern history, Africa’s relationship with electricity has been defined by absence. Absence of reliable grids, absence of affordable power, absence of energy security. Darkness after sunset was not a metaphor, it was a lived reality for millions. Yet by the end of 2025, something unmistakable had changed. Not loudly, not uniformly, but decisively. According to the Africa Solar Outlook 2026 published by the African Solar Industry Association, Africa has entered a new phase in its energy story, one shaped increasingly by solar power and by African choices.
This shift is not aspirational. It is measurable, operational, and already embedded in how electricity is produced and used across the continent.
By late 2025, Africa’s installed solar capacity reached 23.4 gigawatts, marking a 26% increase in just one year. This capacity is not concentrated in a handful of showcase projects. It spans more than 42,000 individual solar installations, operating across all 54 African countries. These range from large grid-connected solar parks to commercial rooftops, from village mini-grids to solar home systems quietly transforming daily life.
What makes this moment remarkable is not only growth, but breadth. Solar is no longer confined to energy pilots or donor-backed demonstrations. It has become a functional, scalable component of Africa’s electricity systems.
Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex in Southern Morocco
What the Numbers Do Not Immediately Reveal
Even these figures, impressive as they are, may significantly understate Africa’s true solar footprint. The Africa Solar Outlook 2026 highlights a critical gap between officially recorded installations and actual deployment on the ground.
Using export data from China, which supplies around 90% of the world’s solar panels, analysts estimate that Africa’s real installed solar capacity could exceed 63.9 gigawatts, nearly three times higher than what bottom-up reporting captures. This discrepancy reflects how much solar capacity is deployed outside traditional tracking systems, especially in decentralized and commercial installations.
If these estimates are accurate, Africa’s share of global solar capacity is not marginal. Instead of representing less than one percent of global installations, Africa may already account for 2.5 to 3% of the world’s solar capacity. This reframes the continent’s role in the global energy transition. Africa is not waiting on the sidelines. It is actively shaping the market.
When Solar Becomes Central, Not Supplemental
Perhaps the clearest evidence of transformation lies in national electricity mixes. By 2025, thirteen African countries were generating more than 10% of their electricity from solar power, a threshold once considered unrealistic for most of the continent.
In the Central African Republic, solar now provides 37.7% of total electricity generation. In Chad, the figure stands at 36.7%, and in Somalia, 32.4%. These are not marginal contributions. They are system-defining shares, particularly in countries where centralized grids have long struggled to reach communities reliably.
Elsewhere, solar has crossed into double digits in Sierra Leone at 18.1%, Namibia at 17.7%, Mauritania at 16.7%, Comoros at 16.5%, and South Sudan at 13.3%. Burkina Faso and Malawi have also surpassed the 10% mark, while South Africa, despite its large and complex power sector, now derives more than 10% of its electricity from solar energy. Eritrea and Cabo Verde complete this group.
Beyond these thirteen countries, 23 African nations now generate at least 5% of their electricity from solar, confirming that this is not an isolated phenomenon. It is a continental pattern taking hold across different political systems, income levels, and geographies.
Some countries stand out for solar capacity relative to population. South Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Namibia, and Cape Verde rank among the leaders on a per-capita basis. Meanwhile, Chad, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, and Botswana have recorded some of the fastest year-on-year increases in solar penetration, signalling rapid acceleration rather than slow transition.
Mini-grid in Kitonyoni, Makueni County, Kenya
Why This Is Happening Now
Three forces converge to explain Africa’s solar surge.
The first is cost. Solar energy has become significantly cheaper, and Africa is benefiting directly from global price declines. What was once expensive and inaccessible has become financially viable across households, businesses, and governments.
The second is storage. According to the Africa Solar Outlook 2026, battery energy storage systems are transforming solar from a daytime-only resource into a reliable power solution. It now costs approximately 33 US dollars per megawatt-hour to store solar energy and make it dispatchable. When generation and storage are combined, solar can deliver electricity at around 76 US dollars per megawatt-hour, a level that competes strongly with fossil fuel alternatives, particularly in countries dependent on imported fuels.
The third is necessity. Africa’s electricity demand continues to rise while millions remain unconnected or poorly served. Solar has proven uniquely adaptable. Mini-grids and off-grid systems expand access where national grids cannot reach, while commercial and industrial installations allow businesses to bypass unreliable supply. Solar meets people where they are, rather than waiting for infrastructure to arrive.
A Continent Rich in Sun, Still Early in the Journey
Despite this momentum, the report is careful not to declare victory. Solar penetration remains uneven. In many countries, it still represents a modest share of electricity generation, constrained by financing challenges, grid limitations, and logistical barriers.
This is particularly striking given Africa’s natural advantage. The continent holds roughly 60% of the world’s photovoltaic resource potential, yet even current growth levels represent only an early phase of what is technically possible.
What emerges from the Africa Solar Outlook 2026 is a portrait of transition rather than completion. Solar energy in Africa is no longer experimental, but it is not yet fully scaled. It sits at an inflection point, where early adoption has given way to systemic change.
Rwanda, East Africa: Local workers installing solar panels at a community health facility as part of a clean energy training program
More Than Energy, A Shift in Power
At its core, Africa’s solar expansion is not only about megawatts or percentages. It is about agency. It is about communities gaining control over electricity, businesses stabilising operations, and governments reducing dependence on volatile fuel imports. Solar’s rise reflects millions of individual decisions, rooftop by rooftop, project by project, country by country.
By 2025, Africa’s solar story has moved beyond promise. It is already reshaping how power is generated, distributed, and experienced across the continent. If current trajectories hold, solar will not simply complement Africa’s energy systems. It will redefine them.
And in doing so, Africa may no longer be framed as catching up to the global energy transition, but as quietly leading one of its most important chapters.
Media Contact:
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