Africa’s solar boom puts Lesotho in the spotlight

Lesotho is among a group of African countries where the rapid expansion of solar power could make a significant contribution to electricity supply, with new solar installations in 2026 projected to generate electricity equivalent to 10% of the country’s current annual generation.

The figure is contained in a new analysis by energy think tank Ember and the African Tech Futures Lab, which estimates that Africa is on course to install a record 17 gigawatts (GW) of solar power this year, a 45% increase from 2025.

Power Shift Africa says new figures show solar is becoming a major force in the continent’s energy transition.

The analysis places Lesotho alongside countries such as Sierra Leone, Togo, Somalia, Djibouti, Namibia and Liberia where solar installations are expected to make aparticularly significant contribution to existing electricity generation.

Sierra Leone records the highest projected impact, with electricity from solar installations made this year equivalent to 97% of its current annual generation, while Lesotho stands at 10%.

The findings point to a broader transformation in Africa’s energy sector, with solar increasingly being adopted not only through large-scale power projects but also by households and businesses installing smaller systems.

According to the report, about three-quarters of the solar capacity added across Africa between 2023 and 2025 came from distributed solar, predominantly smaller systems installed by households and businesses.

The researchers estimate that Africa installed about 12GW of solar in 2025, roughly twice the amount recorded by major international datasets.

Director at Power Shift Africa, Mohamed Adow said the continent’s solar transformation was already underway and called for governments and financial institutions to respond to the pace of change.

“Africa’s solar revolution is no longer something we are waiting for, it’s happening right now,” Adow said, arguing that affordable financing, stronger electricity grids, battery storage and supportive policies were needed to sustain the expansion.

The analysis estimates that the 17GW of solar expected to be installed in Africa in 2026 could generate about 23 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually.

That amount is equivalent to 2.3% of the continent’s current electricity generation and slightly exceeds Africa’s average annual growth in electricity demand between 2014 and 2024, which stood at 2.2%.

The growth is also spreading beyond Africa’s traditional solar markets. The Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to record a 544% increase in installations, followed by Zimbabwe at 282%, Egypt at 176% and Zambia at 117%.

Adow said the continent should use the growing demand for solar to develop local manufacturing, create skilled employment and support African industries.

South Africa, which has historically dominated the continent’s solar market, is expected to account for less than 20 percent of Africa’s installations for the first time since 2019.

Chief Analyst at Ember, Dave Jones, said countries were already moving towards faster and cleaner energy systems and that governments that anticipated the shift stood to benefit.

For Lesotho, the projected 10% contribution from solar installations made this year suggests the technology could play a growing role in expanding electricity supply.

However, the report also highlights a challenge facing African countries: much of the continent’s rapidly expanding solar market remains dependent on imported technology.

Africa currently imports about 94% of the solar panels it installs from China, according to the report.

African solar panel manufacturing is projected to quadruple to about 3.5GW in 2026 as new factories come online in Egypt and Tanzania, although much of that production is currently intended for export rather than African markets.

Research Director at African Tech Futures Lab, Joel Nana said, “Across Africa, distributed energy resources are rapidly expanding, in many cases, overtaking grid capacity. Policy makers need to respond to this shift. The choice now is whether these distributed assets remain a parallel power system that compensates for grid failure or are integrated in ways that unleash a wider range of benefits.”

The report, The Take-off in African Solar That Official Statistics Can’t Yet See, was produced by Ember in partnership with the African Tech Futures Lab and published on August 27, 2026.

Power Shift Africa is a Nairobi based climate and energy think tank providing policy, analysis, advocacy and communications from an African perspective.