africa

A pay-to-own solar system will be developed in Zambia by MTN, Africa’s largest telecoms company, in partnership with Fenix International, who is extending ReadyPay Power.

The World Bank is providing US$150 million in credit for off-grid solar energy in marginalised communities of Kenya.

Eritrea will soon join the global solar boom with a €5.7million fund bringing clean power to two rural villages that currently rely on small diesel generators.

Redavia has commissioned an eight-container solar farm at Shanta Gold’s New Luika mine in the Chunya district of Tanzania, which it claims to be the largest in the country.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced this week that it will fund the construction of Chad’s first large-scale solar project.

IEA finds renewables investment down 3%, Huntec to build 370MW in Mexico, Meeco to build 57 small-scale systems in Guyana, Enel and SeedWorld collaborate to find Africa energy startups.

ReneSola has been awarded 5MW of agricultural PV projects in Thailand, Vonovia and E.ON are to install 2.2MW of solar systems in Dresden, Redavia has opened a Ghana office.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has put out a tender request for a 25MW hybrid solar-diesel-storage project in Sierra Leone.

A 30MW solar PV project in Tanzania is one of the winners of Access Power’s US$7 million Access Co-Development Facility (ACF).

Whilst African solar is still firmly an emerging market, investors have confirmed that issues remain with development finance, insofar as it is holding back the market from truly taking off. Whilst development finance institutions (DFIs) are a crucial part of allowing the market to find its feet, the continent’s economic infrastructure needs to move beyond the realm of development finance for commercial financiers to be enticed.