"Overproduction in China has led to slashed prices, and buyers on the continent are taking advantage to sharply increase investments in clean energy."
"China’s solar exports to Africa are surging.
Over the course of the past year, Chinese companies shipped out solar equipment to a vast range of countries on the continent, according to an analysis of Chinese export data by Ember, an energy tracking group. Those exports added up to more than 15 gigawatts of solar capacity, which nearly doubles the estimated 20 gigawatts of capacity that was installed in 2023.
“The volume of solar panels imported over the past 12 months has the potential to significantly increase power generation in many African countries,” Ember’s report said.
It’s part of China’s global ascendance in the manufacture and sale of renewable energy technologies. Its companies make the vast majority of solar panels, along with the cells and wafers that go into them. Its influence in the world rests, in large part, on persuading people in the developing world that they can produce cheap electricity from the sun."
Somini Sengupta reports for the New York Times August 26, 2025.
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