Electricity in Africa
Access to electricity changes lives - and is long overdue
Around 666 million people worldwide live without electricity – over 85% of them in Africa. Rural regions south of the Sahara are particularly affected. Without electricity, there is not only a lack of light after sunset, but also the basis for education, health care, economic development and social security.
Electricity in Africa is therefore far more than a technical issue. Where electricity is lacking, medicines cannot be reliably cooled, births at night can only be attended under difficult conditions, homework can hardly be done after dark and machines cannot be operated. Millions of people are thus excluded from opportunities that would be taken for granted with a stable electricity supply.
Facts about electricity in Africa
- Weltweit ohne Strom: Rund 666 Millionen Menschen haben keinen Zugang zu Elektrizität.
- Many regions of Africa are particularly affected: around 566 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity – that is over 85% of all people worldwide without access to electricity.
- Slow progress: since 2010, the electrification rate in sub-Saharan Africa has risen from 33% to 53% - but the absolute number of people without electricity remains virtually unchanged.
Warum Solarenergie für Strom in Afrika den Unterschied macht
Lack of electricity robs opportunities: without electricity, education is lacking because children cannot learn after dark. Health centres are inadequately equipped – vaccines cannot be refrigerated, births cannot be safely attended at night. Women and girls spend hours collecting fuel instead of having time for school or earning an income. Economic development also remains blocked: Machines do not run, digital services are inaccessible.
Solar energy offers the solution here. Decentralised, fast and cost-effective, it brings electricity exactly where it is most urgently needed. A cohort study published in 2025 in Kenya and Nigeria with over 2,600 respondents is the first to comprehensively demonstrate the impact of solar mini-grids:
- Income: Median income quadrupled thanks to new jobs, small businesses and more productive agriculture.
- Health: Fewer kerosene lamps and risky energy sources led to better health.
- Geschlechterrollen: Frauen gewannen mehr Entscheidungsmacht.
Mit Strom beginnen Geschichten von Veränderung – von Kindern, die abends lernen können, über sichere Geburten bis hin zu kleinen Betrieben, die wachsen.
How Solafrica promotes access to electricity in Africa
In unseren Projekten geht es nie nur um Technik, sondern immer auch um Bildung, Gleichstellung und Eigenständigkeit:
- Training: young adults – many of them women – learn solar technology and bring it to their communities.
- Ensuring reliable energy: schools, health centres and villages receive solar systems that are operated and maintained over the long term.
- Anchoring responsibility locally: together with local organizations, we focus on training, knowledge transfer and local responsibility.
Electricity brings not only light, but opportunities. See in our projects how Solafrica, together with local partners, is gradually improving access to electricity in many regions of Africa.
Insight into our projects
Kenya
Women in Kenya are learning solar technology and creating new independence for themselves. With their knowledge, they are bringing light into their communities and opening up new opportunities.
Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, Togo
Solar power brings light to rural health centres, which are often the first port of call for women and children in particular. This makes medical help safer – especially for births and emergencies at night.
Ethiopia
Young adults in Ethiopia are building their own future by training in solar technology. They supply schools, health centers and villages with sustainable energy.
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