Solar Panda expands into West Africa

June 04, 2025

From the newsletter

Canadian solar home systems provider Solar Panda is taking its solar solutions to West Africa. After operating in Kenya for eight years, it is starting to scale its business operations in Senegal. The company will provide solar home systems on a pay-as-you-go model that has worked well in Kenya, reaching low-income earners in rural areas.

  • West Africa’s solar home system market has grown immensely in the past few years, offering a compelling reason for energy companies to establish a base there. Rural electrification rates remains low at around 30%.

  • Solar Panda joins other solar home system providers, such as PEG Africa, ZOLA Electric, Sun King, Husk Power Systems and Arnergy, among others, competing for market share in rural West African communities.

More details

  • The company has already powered over 350,000 homes in Kenya and plans to replicate this success in West Africa with solar kits that include lighting, phone charging, radios, and televisions. It has advertised six roles in Senegal as it seeks to hire staff to support its new market.

  • The Solar home systems market is projected to grow 40% fold in 2025 in Africa. Nations in West Africa will dominate, led by Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. A key driver for the region's dominance is solar’s immense potential, among other factors.

  • Solar Panda’s entry into Senegal's renewables market can be attributed to recent incentives that make solar scaling easier. For example, since July 2020, the Senegalese Ministry of Energy has provided VAT exemptions for various solar products, including solar panels, inverters, batteries, solar lamp kits, water heaters, and charge regulators, effectively reducing the cost for consumers and encouraging adoption.

  • Solar home system companies have been targeting multiple countries to maximise their market reach. For instance, companies like Sunking, Bboxx, ENGIE Energy Access and M-KOPA have opened their operations in several countries.

  • Governments have also played a key part in supporting the sector's growth. Several programmes and initiatives have been put in place to support off-grid electrification. This has been done through mini-grids and solar home systems. For example, Nigeria's Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) plans to connect 17.5 million people and provide funding to energy companies to achieve this. Ghana this week launched a programme targeting off-grid rural electrification for 70,000 people.

  • West African countries have also created supportive, though varied, regulatory environments for off-grid solar and mini-grids that drive this growth. At the regional level, the Economic Community of West African States Energy Policy emphasises replacing oil-based generators with renewable energy-powered individual systems, micro, and mini-grids over the period 2020–2050.

  • Nigeria remains at the forefront of mini-grid development in the region. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission introduced the Mini-Grid Regulations in December 2023. The Ghana Energy Transition Framework in 2023 also outlines strategies for transitioning to cleaner energy sources, including renewable energy-based mini-grids to achieve last-mile electrification in 1,000 off-grid communities.

  • Bilateral and multilateral actors have been crucial to West Africa’s dominance. The World Bank and African Development Bank have jointly invested over $500 million in solar home systems, mini-grids, and rural electrification projects. Their funding supports major programs like the World Bank’s Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project and AfDB’s Desert to Power initiative, accelerating clean energy access across the region.

  • Lastly, Pay-as-you-go systems are also driving solar home systems adoption, mainly by enabling credit access to low-income buyers in rural areas. In West Africa, PAYGo penetration is high, especially in Nigeria, where flexible mobile payments fit local conditions.

Our take

  • Achieving 100% electrification in Africa will largely depend on how energy companies develop and scale minigrids. Often underestimated, minigrids offer greater market potential and more direct benefits to rural communities than large-scale mega projects.

  • Competition in the solar sector across the continent is expected to intensify sharply in the coming years. As solar technology becomes more affordable and easier to scale, a growing number of companies will enter the market, driving innovation but also increasing pressure for market dominance.

  • Ultimately, the pace of solar home system adoption hinges on how governments and multilateral agencies design incentives and regulatory frameworks. Providers tend to focus on markets where they are valued, and overly stringent or restrictive policies can significantly hamper sector growth.