Africa’s Energy Shift: The Rise of Distributed Power | The Curious Learners Ep. 47

Welcome back to The Curious Learners. In this episode, my AI co-hosts look at how distributed energy is reshaping electricity access across Africa, using insights from my latest post on The Curious Learners (see here).

Distributed energy is a necessity in Africa, not a choice. It provides access to hundreds of millions of people who still lack electricity. That makes it different from developed markets, where distributed power is often a nice to have. It is used for saving costs or earning revenue, but not as the primary means of access.

Despite being the sunniest continent, Africa accounts for only a fraction of global solar generation. But that headline misses the real story. Solar installations are rising fast, not just on grids but also on rooftops, mini-grids, and standalone systems. In some markets, solar already costs less than diesel or even the main grid.

We will unpack the data, explore what is driving the shift, and look at why distributed energy is becoming the foundation of electricity access in much of the continent rather than just a secondary layer.