Uche Cecil Izuora
China is expanding its renewable energy footprint in Africa which is bolstered by electricity expansion and Nigeria’s clean energy transition.
The country exported a record volume of solar components in March 2026, comprising photovoltaic panels, cells and wafers, according to data from the Chinese customs authority analysed by UK-based energy think tank Ember. The 68 gigawatts in solar capacity was a 49 per cent increase from the previous export record, set in August 2025.
African nations were among the countries whose demand for solar components surged. Nigeria’s demand in March 2026 was 519 per cent higher than in February 2026, a total of 1.2 GW. Ethiopia imported 1.1 GW, up 391 per cent from February.
Experts at Ember attributed the recent surge in demand to rising fossil fuel prices due to the US-Israeli war on Iran, and China ending tax rebates for clean technology from April 1, which resulted in a 9 per cent cost hike on solar panels from the country.
“The volumes exported are absolutely gigantic,” Euan Graham, senior analyst at Ember, told Climate Home News.
“We will see over the coming months how much of that was linked to the tax rebate and how much of that is additional demand.”
The solar exports of 68 GW were double the amount exported the previous month, and equivalent to Spain’s entire solar energy capacity.
Countries are importing solar panels at record levels and building up their own domestic assembly and manufacturing capabilities to address surging global demand.
Euan Graham, senior analyst, Ember, In March 2026, 50 countries set all-time records for Chinese solar imports.
Several African nations have been rapidly expanding their solar energy capacity over recent years, as the continent hosts around 60 per cent of the world’s best solar potential. The Central African Republic already generates more than a third of its energy from solar power. Another 13 countries, including Chad, Somalia and Malawi, generate more than 10 per cent of their electricity from solar.
With China ending its tax rebates, prices are expected to rise, but this will “not reverse Africa’s clean energy transition,” Basil Abia, co-founder of Nigerian energy research company Truva Intelligence, told the Associated Press.
Asian nations also increased their imports of Chinese solar components. These include India, which purchased a record 6.6 GW in March. On a continental scale, exports to Africa rose by 176 per cent while exports to Asia doubled.
“Countries are importing solar panels at record levels and building up their own domestic assembly and manufacturing capabilities to address surging global demand,” Ember’s Graham, said in a statement