The fossil fuel industry, personified by Trump Energy Secretary Chris Wright, has been promising to address “energy poverty” by flooding Africa and the developing world with US liquified natural gas – because, in their telling, they care so deeply about the poor and underprivileged on the continent.
What we’ve actually seen is that one of the very first acts of the new administration was to cut off needed food aid to the most vulnerable Africans – preferring to let good food rot rather than be distributed to poor brown-skinned people.
Maybe no wonder that Africans, and other countries in the developing world, are looking at a different model.
Huge win for China, and another demonstration of how Trump policies are hobbling and humbling US leadership across the globe.
Solar is taking off across Africa in a big way. According to a new analysis of China’s solar panel exports data from energy think tank Ember, solar panel imports into the continent jumped 60% in the 12 months through June 2025, setting a record that could reshape electricity systems in many countries.
In that period, Africa imported 15,032 megawatts (MW) of solar panels, up from 9,379 MW the year before. While South Africa has dominated past surges, this wave is happening across the map: 20 countries set new import records, and 25 countries each brought in at least 100 MW, compared to just 15 a year earlier.
Nigeria overtook Egypt to become the second-largest importer with 1,721 MW, while Algeria surged into third with 1,199 MW. Growth rates in some countries were staggering: Algeria’s imports jumped 33-fold, Zambia’s eightfold, Botswana’s sevenfold, and Sudan’s sixfold. Liberia, the DRC, Benin, Angola, and Ethiopia all more than tripled their imports.
Still, import numbers don’t tell the whole story. It’s unclear how many of these panels have been installed yet. Muhammad Mustafa Amjad of Renewables First, an energy transition think tank in Pakistan, pointed out that countries risk losing valuable time and opportunities without proper tracking. “Africa’s transition will happen regardless,” he said, “but with timely data it can be more equitable, planned, and inclusive.”
If these panels do get installed, the impact could be massive. In Sierra Leone, the past year’s imports alone could cover 61% of the country’s 2023 electricity generation. For Chad, it’s 49%. Liberia, Somalia, Eritrea, Togo, and Benin could all boost generation by more than 10% compared to 2023, and 16 countries could see increases of over 5%.
The economic case is also strong. In Nigeria, solar savings from replacing diesel could repay panel costs in just six months, or even less in other countries. In fact, in nine of Africa’s top 10 solar panel importers, the value of imported refined petroleum outweighed solar imports by factors of between 30 to 107.
As usual, the limiting factor will be transmission lines, which requires much greater capital outlay than solar arrays and grid batteries.
Many of these countries will get themselves in the same hole as others before them: Relying too much on China for both investment and construction.