The lucrative potentials of solar power in Africa…

The lucrative potentials of solar power in Africa…
As huge as Patrick’s accomplishments with solar power may
sound, we have barely scratched the surface of what is possible
with solar energy in Africa. Of all the other alternative and
renewable sources of energy available for Africa’s future – wind,
sun and water – the sun (solar power) is the most abundant and
free! Do you know that Africa receives the longest supply of bright
sunlight than any other part of the world? Roughly 75 percent of
Africa sits on the earth’s equator and gets an average of 325 days
of sunlight every year! Solar power is one of Africa’s most
abundant but underexploited resources!
Despite its huge solar potential and the capacity to generate
electricity that could satisfy the continent’s power needs, about
less than 20 percent of Africans have access to electricity. The
proportion is less than 5 percent in many of the continent’s rural
areas. To give you a chilling perspective, all the 48 countries in
sub-Saharan Africa (with a combined population of about 750
million) generates roughly as much electricity as Spain (a country
with less than 50 million people)!
A fast-growing population, economic growth and the popularity of
mobile phones (used by both rich and poor) across the continent is
accelerating demand for electricity in Africa. The efforts by
governments to get more people on the power grid can barely cope
with the exploding demand. Some rural areas are just too remote
that it could take another decade to get them on the electricity grid.
With rising fuel costs and a growing concern about climate change
(and a need to use cleaner, greener and renewable energy), the
profile of solar power is gaining momentum across the world!
(photo credit: greenpeace.org)
With the price of solar panels and equipment falling across the
world, solar power is finally coming within reach of Africa’s poor
and not-so-poor people. Seeing the possibility of using solar power
as the fastest way to bring electricity to the remotest parts of our
continent, several governments, local and international NGOs, and
a handful of private companies are jumping on the solar wagon.
We estimate that solar energy will become a trillion-dollar market
in the coming decades!
In our article: 3+ Guaranteed Ways to Find Profitable Business
Ideas in Africa, we identified fixing a problem as the Number 1 way
of finding a great business idea. Our continent is ‘blessed’ with lots
of problems. These problems are ‘blessings’ because they contain
loads of money for entrepreneurs who can solve and unlock them.
Just as Patrick Ngowi built a multi-million dollar business out of
fixing his country’s nagging electricity problems, anyone can fix an
African problem with solutions that may already exist in other
parts of the world.
All of the entrepreneurs featured in the Get Inspired! section of
smallstarter.com did exactly the same thing! They looked out for
problems and needs in their environment and found ways to fix and
satisfy them. You too can do the same!