africa

Monica Maduekwe, coordinator of Gender Mainstreaming at the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) caught up with PV Tech to discuss ways in which the organisation is addressing existing barriers to equal participation, including utilising a US$1 million fund from the African Development Bank.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a grant of more than US$860,000 to Ghanaian solar company Buipe Solar, in support of a feasibility study for a 20MW PV project in the north of the country.

San Francisco-based SunFunder is a solar finance business with a mission to unlock capital for solar energy in emerging markets. It primarily aggregates investment capital through its beyond-the-grid and Solar Empowerment funds, thereby giving accredited investors the opportunity to invest in their on-grid and off-grid solar portfolio. Andrea Griffin, SunFunder’s vice president of global business development, stopped by PV Tech to discuss investment, currency risk and energy storage in West Africa.

Africa’s solar market will accelerate just fine, independent of any financial incentives, a market developer has said.

Alongside finance and political considerations, customer education has been identified as a key driver of Africa’s emerging commercial and industrial (C&I) solar sector, according to market experts.

Ghana Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) executive director Ruka Sanusi and GCIC communications and marketing director Abdul-Nasser Alidu spoke to PV Tech about the work of the Centre, and how it is helping to bridge gaps in Ghana’s energy sector for local businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Africa cannot wait for the development of electricity infrastructure and should exploit more quickly deployable solutions such as solar PV, according to a report by Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel.

Off-grid solar company Azuri Technologies announced Tuesday that it has reached the mark of 100,000 sales of its PayGo solar home systems in sub-saharan Africa.

Last week the EU’s Africa Renewable Energy Initiative announced 14 new renewable energy projects across the continent, representing 1.7GW, with a total potential investment of almost €4 billion.

Commercial, industrial and residential solar provider SolarAfrica has installed what is claimed to be East Africa’s largest industrial solar system in Kenya.