Africa installed approximately 3.5 gigawatts of new solar photovoltaic capacity in 2023, with South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Kenya leading. Yet virtually all solar panels are imported from China, which produces approximately 95 percent of global solar cell and module capacity. This creates a structural import dependency for a continent whose energy future is increasingly solar-dominated. Morocco has taken the most deliberate steps to develop domestic solar manufacturing: the Sahara Solar Breeder project and several Chinese investment partnerships in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region are targeting cell and module manufacturing capability.
South Africa's Opportunity
South Africa's Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has included solar manufacturing in its Special Economic Zones incentive framework and is negotiating local content requirements for solar projects that would mandate domestically manufactured panels above a certain project scale. A South African solar module assembly operation established in Atlantis, Western Cape, produces approximately 100 megawatts annually using Chinese cells. As volumes grow, moving from assembly to cell manufacturing becomes economically viable. Solar industry buyers and investors can access African manufacturing sector contacts on intra-africa.com.
For businesses looking to expand across Africa, intra-africa.com offers a comprehensive trade directory, verified buyer and seller listings, and real-time market intelligence covering all 54 African nations. It remains an indispensable resource for anyone serious about intra-African commerce.