Africa pushes for grid integration as power trade grows

November 19, 2025

Dear subscriber,

A connected Africa may feel a distant dream, yet today’s challenges make integration unavoidable. Shared grids could unlock large renewables projects built for export. This would require major grid investment that the continent cannot fund… yet.

–Sammy Jamar, Editor

South Africa’s Eskom CEO Dan Marokane has called for a regional transmission plan to support the country’s strategy and enable wider power trading across the Southern African Power Pool. This is a major opportunity as many countries rely on imports to ease shortages and would face far greater grid pressure without stronger regional links.

  • Electricity is South Africa’s 20th largest export, and brought in about $820 million in 2024. The main buyers were Mozambique at about $291 million, Namibia and Botswana at about $109 million each.

  • Countries that lack sufficient generation capacity or enough firm capacity often turn to neighbours for support. Recently, Tanzania signed a deal to import electricity from Ethiopia through Kenya.

  • Our take: Grid interconnection will boost competition and speed up renewables as countries seek clean power to meet sustainability targets… Read more (2 min)

French-based energy investor Afrigeen has provided a $17.4 million loan to Mali-based SolarX to speed up the rollout of solar power for commercial and industrial (C&I) users in West Africa. The funding includes a short-term and a long-term tranche that will refinance existing assets and support new plants in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso.

  • The C&I solar market in Africa is experiencing significant growth, driven primarily by the need for reliable, cost-effective energy solutions amidst grid instability and rising fossil fuel prices.

  • Kenya has more than doubled its captive power capacity (600 MW) in five years. South Africa has large wheeling projects. Growth is also gathering pace in West Africa, led by Nigeria and Ghana.

  • Our take: Corporate procurement will rise as tariffs, diesel costs and sustainability pressures push more businesses to sign long-term PPAs… Read more (2 min)

The top 30 energy firms in Africa account for 8,584 senior staff hires. Off-grid companies Sun King, d.light and Bboxx rank first, second and third, respectively. The off-grid market is seeing exponential growth. These companies have all gotten funding this year, with Sun King even venturing into local manufacturing in Kenya and Nigeria.

  • Using LinkedIn data, we have ranked companies on key metrics, including staff headcount, geographic spread, hiring momentum, experience mix, tenure patterns, and education qualifications.

  • Recruitment of new senior staff across these companies saw 1,125 additions in the last year, representing a 15% increase in staff.

  • Our take: Africa’s off-grid energy market shows no signs of slowing, and our rankings clearly highlight where momentum lies.… Read more (2 min)

Renewables Academy trains Namibians as part of the EU-GET.transform Namibia Country Window (Source: Renewables Academy)

Events

🗓️ Register for the FinancingElectricity Access in Africa webinar (Nov 24)

🗓️ Participate in South Africa's largest solar survey results webinar (Nov 25)

🗓️ Attend the Africa Energy Expo 2025 (Nov 25)

Jobs

👩🏻‍💻 Apply to d.light’s Financial Planning & Analyst role (Tanzania)

👨🏻‍💻 Lead marketing and branding operations at SunCulture (Uganda)

⚙️ Join Burn Manufacturing as a Field Operations Manager (Ethiopia)

Various

🔌 Tunisia begins dispatch from new utility-scale solar plant

💰 Solar investment reached $554 billion in 2024, per IRENA

⚡ More delays plague Mozambique–Malawi transmission line

☀️ JA Solar unveils a 26.7%-efficient inverted perovskite solar cell

Seen on LinkedIn 

Anthony C. Mburu, CEO at EDF - DPA Kenya, says, “Kenya’s re-opening to Independent Power Producers (IPPs) is bigger than a policy shift — it’s the reopening of a playbook that has shaped our power sector for nearly three decades.”