Africa’s next wave of power projects is increasingly centred on solar and wind energy paired with battery storage, as governments and investors pivot away from coal and large-scale hydropower dams in favour of electricity solutions that are more affordable, faster to deploy, and more reliable.
According to energy research firm Electron Intelligence, 173 of 322 energy projects announced across Africa in 2025 were solar projects, compared with 46 hydropower, 34 wind, 22 gas, and 14 hybrid energy projects. “Africa is not on the periphery of the global energy transition, it is sitting at its center,” said Mugwe Manga, climate finance lead at FSD Kenya, pointing to the continent’s abundant renewable resources and increasingly favourable clean energy economics.
A significant share of this growth comes from distributed solar and battery systems installed directly at mines, factories, telecommunications towers, and homes — installations that official statistics often miss because they focus on megawatts connected to national grids, while solar and batteries frequently bypass central utilities altogether. Data from the Africa Solar Industry Association shows that by the end of 2025, 23.4 gigawatts of operational solar projects had been tracked across the continent.
Investors are increasingly favouring renewable projects for their faster return on investment and reduced exposure to volatile global fuel prices, with solar and wind seen as particularly attractive due to strong commercial fundamentals and comparatively lower investment risk. As one example, CrossBoundary Energy is developing a 233-megawatt solar and battery project at the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa’s largest copper mines, with the project moving from signing to over 80% completion within a year.
Source: AP News