Solar panel imports into Africa rose by 60% in the 12 months to June 2025, according to a new analysis of China’s solar panel exports data from energy think tank Ember.
Imports from China, the world’s dominant manufacturer of solar panels, rose 60% in the last 12 months to 15,032 MW, a 60% increase on the 9,379 MW imported in the preceding 12 months.
In the 12 months to June 2025, Nigeria overtook Egypt to become the second-largest importer with 1,721 MW of solar panel imports in the past year to Egypt’s 854 MW. Algeria also overtook Egypt to rank third with 1,199 MW.
The growth rate in some countries was particularly high. Algeria rose 33-fold in the 12 months to June 2025, compared to the previous 12 months. Zambia rose eightfold, Botswana sevenfold, and Sudan sixfold. DRC, Angola, Ethiopia, Benin and Liberia all more than tripled.
South Africa remained the biggest solar importer in the 12 months to June 2025 with 3,784 MW, but much of the pick-up in the last 12 months happened outside of the country. Over the last two years, the imports of solar panels outside of South Africa have nearly tripled from 3,734 MW to 11,248 MW. 20 countries set a new record for the imports of solar panels in the 12 months to June 2025. 25 countries imported at least 100 MW, up from 15 countries 12 months before.
“The increase in imports is more than a single month spike. Monthly imports jumped to a record in December 2024, but have consistently elevated since. While the December surge initially raised questions — potentially driven by Chinese manufacturers meeting year-end sales targets — the data now indicates this is part of a broader, structural trend,” the report authors find.
Potential to revolutionise energy generation
Despite these record imports of solar panels, there is no data to know how many have yet been installed.
“When looking at export data, we need to understand the time-gap from exporting the panels to installing the panels. Much of the solar capacity in this report will not be installed yet, and may not even be in the country yet. First, there is a one-to-two month shipping time from China to Africa. Second, the solar panels are not immediately installed, they are often put into storage: in 2023, it was estimated that 80 GW of solar panels were stocked in warehouses across the EU – over a year’s worth of installations.”
But Ember says that the volume of solar panels imported over the past 12 months “has the potential to significantly increase power generation in many African countries.”
The thinktank says that if all solar panels imported into Sierra Leone in the last 12 months alone were installed, they would be able to generate electricity equivalent to 61% of reported electricity generation in 2023, the latest available data. For Chad, it would be 49%. In five other countries, imports in total could add electricity equivalent to more than 10% of reported 2023 generation. Altogether, 16 countries would see an increase of at least 5%. Multiple sectors in Africa are turning to solar on a large scale, including agribusiness and mining.
The savings from avoiding diesel can repay the cost of a solar panel within six months in Nigeria, Ember says. In the country, a 420 Watt solar panel retails for around $60 USD ($0.14 USD/watt), and would produce 550 KWh in a year. At the current diesel price of $0.66 USD per litre, $60 USD of diesel would make only 275 KWh of electricity, implying a payback time of just six months.
