Small And Medium-Sized African Solar Power Companies See Sales Surge

Business is booming for solar power companies in Africa that provide electricity to some of the continent's poorest regions.

About 600 million Africans, nearly half the population of 1.3 billion-plus, don't have electricity in their homes, the Associated Press reported Saturday, citing figures from the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

The problem is especially acute in West Africa, where the World Bank says electrification rates are as low as 8% and 220 million people live without power, according to AP.

But an IEA report earlier this year said small and medium-sized solar companies were making rapid progress serving them.

One company, Easy Solar, has brought power to more than 1 million people in Sierra Leone and neighboring Liberia since launching in 2016.

"There wasn't really anybody doing solar at scale. And so we thought it was a good opportunity," said Nthabiseng Mosia, a native of Ghana who co-founded the company with an American classmate.

Easy Solar started with a pilot project in Songo, on the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown.

Villagers there were worried about the cost of solar-powered appliances but quickly changed their minds when they saw their neighbors' homes lit up at night, Mosia said.

"We have long forgotten about kerosene," said Songo resident Haroun Patrick Samai, who works as land surveyor. "Before Easy Solar we lived in constant danger of a fire outbreak from the use of candles and kerosene."

The company's solar power network now serves all 16 district in Sierra Leone and seven of nine counties in Liberia.

"We really want to go to the last mile deep into the rural areas," Mosia said.

Another company, Congo-based Altech, was founded in 2013 by Washikala Malango and Iongwa Mashangao, who as children fled conflict in the country's South Kivu province and grew up in Tanzania.

Altech now operates in 23 of 26 provinces in Congo, where the World Bank says less than 20% of the population has access to electricity.

The founders said they've sold more than 1 million products for homes and businesses and expected to reach the remaining provinces by the end of the year.

"For the majority of our customers, this is the first time they are connected to a power source," Malango said.