Chinese solar firms are exporting far more to Africa as their U.S. and European markets fade. That could make the Sino-African trade relationship even more one-sided.
Workers fit solar panels onto frames at South Africa's first municipally owned solar plant, June 5, 2025, in Atlantis, about 40km from Cape Town. Credit: Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images
Africa is the sunniest continent on the planet. But despite its abundance of natural light it generates less than five percent of its electricity from solar energy.
China’s surging exports of solar panels could change that. Chinese manufacturers shipped 18.8 gigawatts worth of solar panels to African nations last year, 48 percent more than in 2024, according to an analysis of Chinese export data by British energy tracking firm Ember. That is equivalent to more than three times the capacit
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