Governments, investors and development partners are increasingly recognizing the potential of Off-Grid solar solutions according to the latest Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report published today by the World Bank’s Lighting Global, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), GOGLA, and Efficiency for Access Coalition, and Open Capital Advisors.
The report clearly highlights that governments and development partners have recognized the potential of off-grid solutions to power agriculture, enterprise, and healthcare. Today, over 10.5 million businesses are using solar energy kits to increase their income and productivity, while the industry itself is supporting over 340,000 green jobs.
In 2021, $7.7 million of the total $10.2 million grant capital invested in the industry was absorbed by PUE companies, while the World Bank, IKEA Foundation, EnDev, GIZ, UK aid and Power Africa all committed funding to support the electrification of healthcare facilities and/or uptake of PUE appliances.
Rwanda has taken a policy decision to diversify electricity provision by adding off-grid connections, mainly solar home systems, to the traditionally dominant grid connectivity.
To date, electricity rollout has reached 73% of the households.
“Rwanda is a clear and early champion for realizing universal energy access. Rwanda has not only managed to increase access, but also how they have done this is important for lessons to scale these practices,” Patrick Tonui, Head of Policy and Regional Strategy at the Global Association for the Off-Grid Solar Industry (GOGLA) recently said.
This month, Rwanda will host the 7th edition of the Global Off-grid solar Forum and EXPO from October 18 – 20, 2022 at the Kigali Convention Center.
Charles Ndushabandi
