The World Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation vowed to spend tens of millions of dollars to accelerate Africa’s solar energy sector, which has taken off in recent months.
Despite enormous solar power potential, the continent generates just 2% of its electricity from solar, around a third of the global average. Falling hardware prices and rising efficiency have led to a boom in microsolar projects across the continent, though: Nigeria imported more than 1,700 megawatts of solar panels last year alone, enough to meet around 5% of the country’s electricity demand.
The continent’s panel imports almost tripled in the two years to June 2025, energy think tank Ember said, proving that “a take-off in solar in Africa is now here.”
