African nations have ambitious renewables targets to meet, and they’re increasingly looking to Egyptian companies to help reach these goals, industry insiders told EnterpriseAM. As the effects of climate change amplify, African nations are expected to increasingly rely on solar power to meet their energy needs.

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Big solar projects need big investments, with clean energy investments in Africa nearly doubling in the last five years, according to a recent joint op-ed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Power Africa. More recent data shows renewables investment increasing 12% y-o-y to USD 36.6 bn in 2023 across the continent.

And African interest in renewables is only expected to grow, with investments in the continent’s clean energy sector projected to increase 42% by 2030, according to the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2024 (pdf). Annual investments of some USD 200 bn are needed through the end of this decade to hit Africa’s 2030 renewable energy goals, according to IEA.

Egypt is an important solar player on the continent, now ranking second for solar energy production with an installed capacity of 707.6 MW, according to the Africa Solar Outlook 2025 report by the Africa Solar Industry Association. Although the figure is nearly half of South Africa’s capacity of 1.2 GW, Egypt stands above those below it by a factor of at least ten, with Zambia in third place with 74.8 MW.

And Egyptian companies are being recognized for their expertise in the field, which Egyptian Green Energy Association head Ahmed Hegazy thinks makes Egypt well placed to become a clean energy and renewables hub in Africa.

Recent Chinese interest in manufacturing solar panels and parts here will support our regional solar ambitions, with Egypt positioning itself as China’s gateway to the African continent, Hegazy added. China’s Elite Solar kicked off construction on its USD 150 mn solar cell factory here back in December, China Electric Power Equipment and Technology signed an MoU with the government in January to study the construction of a 10 GW solar project in Upper Egypt, and China Energy is gearing up to set up manufacturing facilities for new and renewable energy technologies in Egypt.

There could be more than USD 5 bn worth of projects for Egyptian companies on the continent over the next five years, with local companies planning to take on projects in countries including Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Chad and Morocco, informed sources told EnterpriseAM. Egyptian companies taking on the projects will increase the demand for solar components and will lead to local companies developing different techniques to suit different climatic conditions.

Many are looking to a post-civil war Sudan as an important market, including Beneshty Solar Chairman Romany Hakeem, who told EnterpriseAM that he had just signed at a USD 100k agreement for the first phase of a solar project with Sudanese investors. Contracts in the country for Beneshty could total USD 100 mn or more as the war hopefully comes to an end one day, according to Hakeem. Beneshty Solar is also among a number of local players working towards setting up shop in the country to supply solar cell parts, control systems, and other solar station installation equipment.

Egyptian interest in the region includes North African neighbors: Local renewable energy players, who have operated in North Africa for years — including in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia — are now also turning to northern Libya as a target for expansion, Hakeem told us. Egypt’s solar power push into surrounding countries comes as our North African neighbors ramp up investment in the green transition to address climate change, he explained.

Solar power isn’t the only kind of renewables project we’re focused on in Africa, with Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric’s construction of the 2.1 GW Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant and Dam in Tanzania putting Egyptian infrastructure and renewables expertise on the regional stage for all to see. The USD 2.9 bn project, which is set to double Tanzania’s power generation capacity, kicked off construction in 2019. Elsewedy Electric began operating a 750 MW phase of the hydropower plant last July.

But for Egypt to become a regional solar player, the state needs to step up its support, Hegazy told us. Egyptian companies are already looking to the continent for solar contracts, but larger scale projects and local companies establishing themselves as a more prominent force in the region could be helped by state support.

Your top green economy stories for the week:

  • Egypt wants to attract more WtE investments: The environment and finance ministries are working to boost investments in waste-to-energy (WtE) projects by amending laws regulating public contracts and increasing the feed-in tariff rate. Land for WtE projects has already been allocated across eight governorates for completion over the next three or four years.
  • Electric cargo tricycle to soon hit Egyptian streets? Local manufacturer Engineering Industrial Group (INDE) plans to launch electric cargo tricycle production this year, targeting 2k units annually with over 65% local components.
  • Setting up a Ras Shukeir industrial zone: The cabinet approved the establishment of a green industrial zone for petrochemical and green hydrogen production in the Gulf of Suez’s Ras Shukeir.
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