Solar power companies are rapidly expanding in Central and West Africa, providing energy solutions to some of the region’s poorest households.
These companies, often locally owned, operate in areas with minimal access to electricity.
In West Africa, where electrification rates can be as low as 8%, companies offer products ranging from solar lamps to full home systems.
The cost of these products varies, starting from $20 for lamps and reaching thousands of dollars for larger systems.
Solar energy offers a clean and affordable alternative to expensive and dangerous fuels like kerosene.
The World Bank reports that around 220 million people in West Africa live without electricity, making these solar solutions essential for development.
At the 2023 United Nations climate summit, global leaders committed to tripling renewable energy capacity by 2050.
Solar companies, like Sierra Leone-based Easy Solar and Congo-based Altech, are at the forefront of this push.
Easy Solar has connected over a million people in Sierra Leone and Liberia since 2016.
Meanwhile, Altech operates in 23 of Congo’s 26 provinces, selling over a million solar-powered products.
Both companies are among the fastest-growing on the continent, showing the potential of solar power to transform African energy access.
