Accelerating uptake of renewable energy in the global south is a big story.
The Trump/Putin/Saudi fossil fuel axis has convinced itself that they can lock emerging economies into fossil fuel dependence that will last many decades into the future.
But with the emergence of massive over-capacity for clean energy, solar and battery manufacturing in China, the prices for new clean energy have become irresistible.
Pakistan’s rapid deployment of solar is now legend, and is becoming a template for other countries across Asia and Africa. The TED talk above was delivered in Kenya, which is rapidly moving toward 100 percent clean energy.
Developing countries often lack either oil resources, refining capacity, or both, and must therefore find ways to attract the dollars they need to pay for gasoline.
They are figuring out that by going to EVs for transportation, and renewables for generation, they can step off the colonial path and determine their own destiny without dependence on the great powers to the north.
Kenya is on track to achieve universal electricity access by 2030, as ambitious implementation plans and electrification using clean energy technologies position the country as an economic and energy development leader across the region, according to the IEA’s new Energy Policy Review of the country.
With a sustained focus on electrification, electricity access rates in Kenya rose from 37% in 2013 to 79% in 2023, with urban areas already achieving full access, the report notes. The Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP), launched in 2015, has played a pivotal role in bringing electricity to 9 million people in rural areas and reducing the number of people without access by nearly half in just under a decade. Ongoing initiatives aim to connect an additional 280,000 households across the country by the end of 2025.
The report highlights Kenya’s leadership in off-grid solar adoption, with the country accounting for nearly three-quarters of all solar home system sales in East Africa in 2023.
- The last 12 months saw a big rise in Africa’s solar panel imports. Imports from China rose 60% in the last 12 months to 15,032 MW. Over the last two years, the imports of solar panels outside of South Africa have nearly tripled from 3,734 MW to 11,248 MW.
- The rise happened across Africa. 20 countries set a new record for the imports of solar panels in the 12 months to June 2025. 25 countries imported at least 100 MW, up from 15 countries 12 months before.
- These solar panels will provide a lot of electricity. The solar panels imported into Sierra Leone in the last 12 months, if installed, would generate electricity equivalent to 61% of the total reported 2023 electricity generation, significantly adding to electricity supply. They would add electricity equivalent to over 5% to total reported electricity generation in 16 countries.
- Solar panel imports will reduce fuel imports. The savings from avoiding diesel can repay the cost of a solar panel within six months in Nigeria, and even less in other countries. In nine of the top ten solar panel importers, the import value of refined petroleum eclipses the import value of solar panels by a factor of between 30 to 107.
This surge is still in its early days. Pakistan experienced an immense solar boom in the last two years, but Africa is not the next Pakistan – yet. However, change happens quickly. And the first evidence is now here.