Africa’s renewable energy sector experienced its strongest year in 2017, in line with the global trend. The cumulative end-year capacity of the sector expanded by 12.5% y/y to 42.7 GW, outpacing the global growth rate of 8.5% y/y, according to data provided by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The driving factors in this were the increasing energy needs of the continent, its abundance of various renewable resources, global support for clean energy generation, and the decision of many African governments to invest in and/or create incentives for the development of renewables in order to ensure a stable and secure supply of electricity. The newly-added installed capacity of the sector in 2017 was 4.7 GW, representing 2.9% of the world’s total. Over the past decade, however, the renewables sector has grown at a slower rate in Africa than in the world as a whole, with capacity expanding at a CAGR of 6.7%, below the global rate of 8.4% in the 2008-2017 period. Data for 2018 showed that Africa added 3.6 GW in new installations, bringing total renewable energy capacity up to 46.3 GW, equal to 2% of the global total.

01 REGIONAL OVERVIEW 

02 EGYPT 

03 SOUTH AFRICA 

04 KENYA 

05 ETHIOPIA