This year, Africa’s solar story is entering a new and decisive chapter. What was once seen as slow and incremental progress has begun to transform into something far more dynamic.
The continent’s solar capacity, which reached 19.2 GW by the end of 2024, has grown steadily across utility-scale, commercial and industrial systems, mini-grids, and home installations. Despite the enormity of Africa’s solar potential, solar still represents only a small share of the continent’s total electricity generation. But the direction of change is unmistakable.
The Global Solar Council projects that annual solar installations across Africa will rise by an impressive 42 percent in 2026 – clear evidence that the market is moving from aspiration to acceleration. Over the next four years, the same analysis anticipates an additional 23 GW of solar capacity by 2028, effectively more than doubling current deployment.
This momentum received a significant boost at the recently concluded COP30 in Brazil, where global leaders reaffirmed commitments to triple renewable energy capacity to 11,000 GW by 2030, with explicit nods to Africa’s pivotal role. Building on the 2023 Nairobi Declaration from the Africa Climate Summit – which aims to scale the continent’s renewable capacity from 56 GW in 2022 to at least 300 GW by 2030 – discussions at COP30 highlighted solar as a cornerstone for African energy access.
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Several forces help explain why 2026 is shaping up to be such a consequential year. For much of the last decade, Africa’s solar landscape was dominated by a few countries, with South Africa long seen as the continental anchor. That picture is changing rapidly.
Egypt, for example, added roughly 700 MW of solar capacity in 2024, while a broadening set of countries – Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Zambia, and others – are now scaling new projects at a meaningful pace. At least 18 African countries are expected to install more than 100 MW of solar capacity each in 2025, compared to only two countries that reached that threshold in 2024. This diversification marks a turning point, as regional markets begin to mature simultaneously rather than sequentially.
At the same time, a quiet revolution is unfolding in energy storage. Only a few years ago, Africa’s annual storage deployment hovered at about 150 MWh. By 2024, that figure had skyrocketed to 1,641 MWh, driven by falling lithium-ion battery prices and the growing need for reliable, dispatchable clean energy.
Storage has shifted from being an experimental add-on to becoming a core enabler of large-scale and off-grid solar projects. Technology is no longer the bottleneck; capital is. To achieve the projected 23 GW of new solar installations by 2028, African governments, investors, and development partners must work together to unlock more concessional financing.
This is precisely why Intersolar Africa 2026 arrives at a pivotal moment. The February 2026 event in Nairobi will serve as a crucial platform for translating this momentum into action. The exhibitors and industry professionals that will participate will bring together global expertise and African innovation under one roof.
Beyond showcasing the latest technologies in photovoltaics, energy storage, grid integration, and digital solutions, the event will deepen the conversations that matter most: how to unlock capital, shape enabling policies, and build partnerships that accelerate deployment. The event aims to act as a catalyst for the next phase of the continent’s clean energy evolution.
-The Intersolar Africa Project manager, under Solar Promotion International
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This year, Africa’s solar story is entering a new and decisive chapter. What was once seen as slow and incremental progress has begun to transform into something far more dynamic.
The continent’s solar capacity, which reached 19.2 GW by the end of 2024, has grown steadily across utility-scale, commercial and industrial systems, mini-grids, and home installations. Despite the enormity of Africa’s solar potential, solar still represents only a small share of the continent’s total electricity generation. But the direction of change is unmistakable.
The Global Solar Council projects that annual solar installations across Africa will rise by an impressive 42 percent in 2026 – clear evidence that the market is moving from aspiration to acceleration. Over the next four years, the same analysis anticipates an additional 23 GW of solar capacity by 2028, effectively more than doubling current deployment.
This momentum received a significant boost at the recently concluded COP30 in Brazil, where global leaders reaffirmed commitments to triple renewable energy capacity to 11,000 GW by 2030, with explicit nods to Africa’s pivotal role. Building on the 2023 Nairobi Declaration from the Africa Climate Summit – which aims to scale the continent’s renewable capacity from 56 GW in 2022 to at least 300 GW by 2030 – discussions at COP30 highlighted solar as a cornerstone for African energy access.
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Several forces help explain why 2026 is shaping up to be such a consequential year. For much of the last decade, Africa’s solar landscape was dominated by a few countries, with South Africa long seen as the continental anchor. That picture is changing rapidly.
Egypt, for example, added roughly 700 MW of solar capacity in 2024, while a broadening set of countries – Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Zambia, and others – are now scaling new projects at a meaningful pace. At least 18 African countries are expected to install more than 100 MW of solar capacity each in 2025, compared to only two countries that reached that threshold in 2024. This diversification marks a turning point, as regional markets begin to mature simultaneously rather than sequentially.
At the same time, a quiet revolution is unfolding in energy storage. Only a few years ago, Africa’s annual storage deployment hovered at about 150 MWh. By 2024, that figure had skyrocketed to 1,641 MWh, driven by falling lithium-ion battery prices and the growing need for reliable, dispatchable clean energy.
Storage has shifted from being an experimental add-on to becoming a core enabler of large-scale and off-grid solar projects. Technology is no longer the bottleneck; capital is. To achieve the projected 23 GW of new solar installations by 2028, African governments, investors, and development partners must work together to unlock more concessional financing.
This is precisely why Intersolar Africa 2026 arrives at a pivotal moment. The February 2026 event in Nairobi will serve as a crucial platform for translating this momentum into action. The exhibitors and industry professionals that will participate will bring together global expertise and African innovation under one roof.
Beyond showcasing the latest technologies in photovoltaics, energy storage, grid integration, and digital solutions, the event will deepen the conversations that matter most: how to unlock capital, shape enabling policies, and build partnerships that accelerate deployment. The event aims to act as a catalyst for the next phase of the continent’s clean energy evolution.
-The
Intersolar Africa Project manager, under Solar Promotion International
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By Tina Engelhard