The African continent offers an ideal environment for electricity generation from renewable sources. Therefore, it is not surprising that sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) already ranks third worldwide in terms of percentage of electricity generated through renewable sources. Roughly 27% of electricity generated in 2015 was generated through renewable sources. Lesotho, Ethiopia, D.R. Congo, Central African Republic, Namibia, Zambia, Uganda and Malawi rank best, as they generate more than 90% of their total electricity output from renewable sources. However, as of 2015, 91% of the renewable energy generated in SSA was generated from hydropower. The continent’s abundant solar, wind, biomass and geothermal resources are yet to be exploited more efficiently. The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), established in 2015 and operating under the mandate of the African Union, aims to add 310 gigawatt of additional renewable energy generation capacity to the continent until 2030. This brings also other sources of renewable energy than water into focus and creates high opportunities for international technology and service providers in the renewable energy sector.

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Northern Africa
> 90%
> 60 – 90%
> 30 – 60%
0 – 30%
Not available
Sources:AREI(2016),TheWorldBank(2018)
Renewable energies in sub-Saharan Africa
SSA ranks 3rd worldwide in terms of percentage of electricity generated
through renewable sources, mainly depending on hydroelectricity.
52
29
27
20 20
17
3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Incl. hydroelectric Excl. hydroelectric
Renewable electricity output by regions
(2015, in % of total electricity output)
Renewable electricity output in SSA
(2015, in % of total electricity output)
Comment
• As only 38% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) had access to electricity in 2015, the total electricity output in SSA is still on a low level
• The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), operating under the mandate of the African Union, aims to add 310GW of additional renewable
energy generation capacity to the continent until 2030
• This creates high business opportunities for international renewable energy solution providers
In%oftotal