Ethiopia doubles down on making solar gear at home

June 03, 2025

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Three Chinese companies plan to invest at least $460 million in solar cell manufacturing plants in Ethiopia. This brings the total foreign companies investing in solar manufacturing in Ethiopia to four. The country’s cheap power and its trade benefits with the US, which allow exemption from tariffs for bifacial solar cells, have made it an attractive investment hub.

  • Toyo was the first company to set up its solar cell manufacturing plant in Ethiopia, targeting the US market. The company currently has a manufacturing capacity of 2,000 MW and plans to double it by July this year.

  • Beyond Ethiopia, renewables manufacturing is gaining traction across the continent. Both Nigeria and Egypt have plans to set up solar manufacturing facilities. Morocco has built Africa's first wind blade factory.

  • Our take: Ethiopia's cheap power and its tax exemption agreement with the US for solar cells could make it a giant manufacturing hub in Africa… Read more (2 min)

Modularity in solar panel manufacturing has been the secret to its success. It has led to a dramatic decrease in solar panel costs—a tenth of their price ten years ago—and a 13-fold increase in global installation volume in the same period, writes Dom Wills, executive director of South African energy company Sola Group, in today's opinion article.

  • Wills holds an Engineering PhD in wind turbine design from Stellenbosch University. He has worked at Sola Group since 2010, helping it grow into a vertically integrated IPP that owns and operates 600 MW of solar PV projects. 

  • He served as CEO from 2017 to 2024 and is now an executive director. Wills asserts that the same principle of modularity that significantly reduced solar PV costs will similarly drive down battery costs.

  • Click here to read the full opinion article… (2 min)

Loans make up 97% of new funding in May

Loans and debt accounted for more than 97% of May's total funding in the renewables sector. Morocco secured investments worth $14 billion for its power and water sector. Though not specified, the financing is expected to come from loans and equity from the Mohamed VI Investment Fund, utility TAQA Morocco, and the energy company Nareva.

  • Almost 3% of the new money was philanthropic. Malawi secured a $350 million grant from the World Bank for the Mpatamanga Hydropower Project, the country's single largest project in history. It is expected to reduce electricity tariffs for consumers.

  • May's funding rounds lacked venture financing, signalling the sector's greater maturity. It has progressed past early, high-risk phases and now has a proven business model that attracts a wider range of investors.

  • Our take: Renewables need concessional loans to de-risk investments and attract more private sector participation… Read more (2 min)

Renewable energy solutions provider MUKAZA Engineering Co. staff celebrate their first solar mini-grid installation in Bujumbura, Burun

Events

🗓️ Sign up for Solar Plant Design Masterclass webinar (Jun 5)

🗓️ Congregate at the Open Source in Energy Access Symposium (Jun 11)

🗓️ Attend the Africa Energies Forum 2025 (Jun 18)

Jobs

🤳 Lead Husk Power Systems Marketing operations (Nigeria)

💼 Become Scatec Solar’s Finance Administrator (South Africa)

👩🏻‍💻 Join Sun King as an Insights Manager (Kenya)

Various 

🔋 Ghana's Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP) is now underway

⚡️ KETRACO tenders for the construction of a transmission line in Kenya

💡 Palm Hospitality Group funds solar energy projects in South Africa

Seen on LinkedIn 

Mide Alonge, Investment Manager at Endeavor, says, “Billions are flowing into ClimateTech across Africa - solar, EVs, recycling, nature-based solutions. But here’s what no one’s talking about: You can’t install 1.7 million solar systems without 1.7 million trained, matched, and paid workers.”