Page 8 - AfrElec Week 04 2023

AfrElec SOL AR AfrElec

African continent is a hub for

many solar opportunities

AFRICA THE 2023 African Solar Industry Association Africa. This segment will likely continue to grow
(AFSIA) report underscores the fact that major across Africa, with more than 5GW of projects
solar opportunities are present in Africa, despite under development.
its difficulties in achieving its solar power goals. The exponential growth of electric mobility
The annual solar outlook report identifies across the African continent, as people switch to
four areas of opportunity for Africa: commercial lower-cost transport like electric motorbikes, has
and industrial; solar-powered mobility; green boosted demand for solar power.
hydrogen product; and the productive use of However, the report highlights that there is
energy. room for improvement when it comes to the pro-
“Africa is now home to more than 10GW ductive use of energy, and the need to empower
of identified solar projects, and this is another people with revenue-generating solutions.
symbolic milestone for the continent,” said John On the other hand, solar adaptation is grow-
Van Zuylen, CEO of the African Solar Industry ing across the African continent as it is no longer
Association. limited to South Africa, Morocco and Egypt.
According to the report, the commercial and According to the report, a total of 49 countries
industrial segment accounted for 28% of newly are now considering at least 1MW of solar instal-
installed capacity in 2022, and it is led by South lations, and 29 more than 100MW. ™

Madagascar solar firm WeLight secures

$20.57mn for solar mini-grids

MADAGASCAR MADAGASCAR’S off-grid solar company WeLight’s managing director.
WeLight has secured €19mn ($20.57mn) to con- WeLight, which is owned by Madagas-
nect 50,000 households to electricity in 120 vil- car’s Axian Group, Norwegian investment
lages via solar mini-grids in the next two years, fund Norfund and Sagemcon, already pro-
Reuters reports. vides solar power to 9,000 rural Malagasy
The project is jointly financed by the Euro- households. It launched five mini-grids
pean Investment Bank (EIB), Triodos Invest- in Mali in a test phase in 2021, and is now
ment Management, an investment fund exploring opportunities in Nigeria and the
manager based in the Netherlands, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
European Union’s (EU) Electrification Financ- the company said.
ing Initiative (EDFI). The latest Madagascar expansion will cost a
Off-grid solar power has recently gained total of €27mn with the additional funds being
popularity in Africa because it can affordably provided by the shareholders in loans, writes
connect millions of homes left off mainstream Reuters. The project is being implemented with
electricity grids to clean power, the news agency the support of the Madagascan Ministry of
writes. Energy and the Agency for the Development of
WeLight, which allows customers to prepay Rural Electrification (ADER).
for their electricity through mobile banking, is “Access to affordable and clean energy for
targeting the 90% of the Indian Ocean island’s all is an important sustainable development
rural population without access to power, the objective and contributes to the green and just
company said in a statement. transition supported by the EU’s Global Gateway
“This new project will significantly improve strategy,” said Isabelle Delattre Burger, the EU’s
rural electrification in Madagascar. It will also ambassador to Madagascar.
have a positive impact on hundreds of thousands Madagascar is one of the least electrified
of people, significantly improving the standard countries on the African continent, with a rate
of living, the local economy and the well-being estimated at only 33% by the World Bank. The
of the population,” says Romain de Villeneuve, island has a population of 29mn. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 04 26•January•2023