In its latest solar projects database update for 2025 H1, the Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) has identified more than 20 GWp worth of operational solar capacity across the continent.
The database counts close to 40,000 different projects at various stages of development. The 20 GWp capacity accounts for solar for utility-scale, C&I, mini-grids, SHS (Solar Home Systems). Residential projects for a limited set of countries are now also included in AFSIA’s database.
South Africa remains the engine of the African solar industry, accounting for approximately half of all capacity installed in the continent. North Africa also contributes greatly to the tally with Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia completing the Top 4 of African countries hosting the most solar capacity in operation.
This domination of the southern and northern parts of the continent is likely to be maintained going forward. In 2025, new capacity that became operational predominantly came from Southern Africa. While South Africa continues to invest massively in solar, other Southern African countries are now jumping on the bandwagon and have rolled out significant solar capacities in 2025 alone.
These include Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Senegal is almost an outlier in this Southern African group with 54 MWp new installed capacity identified YTD. In the northern part of the continent, the main push is expected to come from Algeria. After several years of inaction, the country has decided to move forward with a whopping 3 GW initiative across 20 projects. These projects are at various stages of construction, and several are expected to be commissioned before the end of 2025.
The other remarkable insight from the data is that African solar is on a strong growth trajectory, whereas other regions of the world are witnessing a slowdown of new solar installations. SolarPower Europe recently reported that it expects a solar decline of 1.4% this year, marking a negative annual growth for this first time since 2015. In the US, SEIA reports that solar installations have declined by 7% YoY and 43% between 2024 Q4 and 2025 Q1.
Africa however keeps beating its own records year after year, after recovering from the pandemic. Updated AFSIA figures indicate that 2024 saw a 44% increase in new installations, further building on the 22% increase momentum from 2023. And the future holds even greater prospects as more than 10 GWp of capacity has been identified to be under construction. Utility-scale projects currently under construction account for 70%, marking a solid rebound from the post-COVID years during which C&I was the predominant segment in African solar.
This capacity under construction is also more spread across the continent. South Africa remains the most active African country, but hosts “only” 28% of the current construction activity. Algeria, Egypt, Angola, Tunisia and Zambia are other hot spots for African solar and account for 75% of all current solar construction activity together with South Africa.
This steady growth of solar will be at the centre of discussions at REFA – the Renewable Energy Forum Africa which is to take place in Accra from December 3 to 4, 2025. Organised by AFSIA and SolarPower Europe, with the support of GET.invest, the investment forum is the annual meeting place for professionals of the African renewable energy industry, covering all topics including solar, storage, electric mobility and green hydrogen, to cite a few.