Cameroon and Zambia are among the African countries to have recently switched on solar minigrids in rural communities.
Cameroon’s Ministry of Water and Energy inaugurated two solar plants in the villages of Songmimbias and Nkelassi in Mefou-et-Akono, a department within the country's central province, last week.
The two installations each span over 900 m2, are each equipped with 161.3 kWh lithium batteries and have a power network of 4.4 km. Together, they will give access to reliable energy to 270 households, 135 per village.
The solar arrays are part of a wider electrification program to bring energy to 1,000 rural towns in Cameroon. The country’s electrification rate stood at around 72% as of 2023 but lags further behind in rural areas, with access around 25% according statistics from the same year.
Figures published by the ministry say the electrification program has already built 350 solar plants, bringing electricity access to 27,500 households. An ongoing third phase of the project is set to commission a further 87 solar power plants with capacities ranging between 21.6 kW and 183.6 kW.
A statement from the ministry says that beyond energy access, these projects are transforming the lives of people, improving health and education services, creating income-generating activities and revitalizing the local economy.
According to figures compiled by the Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA), Cameroon currently has 70 MW of operational solar capacity, 14.1 MW of which is solar minigrids.
In Zambia, the government commissioned four solar minigrids in the district of Kapiri Mposhi within the country's central province towards the end of September.
According to a social media post from the country’s United Party for National Development (UPND), the four minigrids deliver electricity to more than 2,600 households, schools, health centres and small businesses in the region.
The project was implemented through Zambia’s Rural Electrification Authority (REA) and forms part of wider government plans to install 1,000 minigrids across the country. According to data from UPND, 55 sites had been completed through a mixture of public and private support as of September.
Just over half of the Zambian population had access to electricity in 2023. In the same year, figures from global economic data platform CEIC found rural access to electricity in the country stood at 17.6%.
Speaking at the launch of the four minigrids REA Acting Chief Executive Officer, Alex Mbumba, said the initiative is transforming livelihoods, with dairy farmers in the district now able to purify and store milk in bulk thanks to reliable solar power.
According to AFSIA’s project database, Zambia has 391 MW of operational solar, 19.2 MW of which consists of solar minigrids and solar home systems.
A recent report by the International Energy Agency found Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for eight of every ten people lacking access to electricity globally.
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