A beauty salon in a small southern Kenyan town is dimly lit by a few lights. There’s no streetlighting here in Mtito Andei so those lights are how customers make their way.
The salon’s owner is Rehema Yusuf, a mother of three. A few years ago, she had next to no income and struggled to buy powdered milk for her children. During the pandemic, she acquired some hair and beauty skills, studying on a solar-powered tablet with pre-installed educational content. She started earning a little money braiding hair for her neighbours. Over time, she saved up enough to rent a small space to open her own salon.
The tablet and the solar-powered lights hanging on her walls come from a commercial Chinese outfit, Solar Run. In places without electricity or the internet, the company’s products offer opportunities for solar-powered changes. Yusuf was one of Solar Run’s first customers.
From trading to selling the sun
Li Xia is Solar Run’s founder. She speaks quickly and values efficiency, and has a background in trade rather than energy. But on a business trip to India, Li says she saw how dangerous unlit urban places could be for women at night. It got her thinking about the possibilities of solar-powered lighting.
In 2010, more than 1.2 billion people around the world lacked access to electricity. Almost half of those were in South Asia, while a third were in sub-Saharan Africa. Since then, electrification has gained pace in South Asia but in sub-Saharan Africa, over half a billion people still lacked electricity as of 2024. This is where the problem is now concentrated.
Li decided to shift her focus from South Asia to Africa towards the end of the 2000s. Back then, Chinese firms working overseas were usually exporting solar modules to meet demand in Europe and other subsidy-driven markets. Africa was not seen as a mature market for solar power projects – the business models for designing projects for its low-income populations did not exist.
Li’s business plan, therefore, did not meet with a lot of support. Nevertheless, she flew to Ethiopia, with two suitcases full of solar-powered domestic appliance samples, to knock on doors and see what was in demand.
Off-grid solar: A bargain
In 2012, Solar Run developed its first core product for the African market: the Candle Killer solar-powered light. Two million of these have since been sold, replacing kerosene lamps in low-income African households.
The product originally came with a stand, several inches tall, which made it easy to set up but occupied a lot of shipping space. Then, during a trip to Africa, she noticed plastic water bottles lying around in many households. A hanger was designed to allow the light to be hung from the neck of a full bottle. With the product now smaller by half, shipping costs came down and the lights could be sold more cheaply. Currently, they cost USD 5 each and last around five years. At one dollar every year, that is what many households used to spend every month on candles and kerosene.
Solar Run says quickly responding to customer needs has helped it maintain its share of a competitive market. For example, Li noticed a lack of internet access was stopping many Africans from studying. So Solar Run developed an off-grid, off-net tablet called Solar Media that can accept memory cards with pre-loaded educational videos. Tailored to specific regions and a range of clients, the videos cover various professions and skill sets, such as agriculture. The tablet can be charged via its solar panel and even comes with lights that can be plugged in and run off its battery.
Local cooperation
Solar Run manufactures a range of solar products for African homes, from lights to full solar power systems, as well as energy storage devices.
The company works mostly in the east and west of the continent using a business-to-business model, supplying products to local traders and partners. Its main regional hub is in Ethiopia, where it has a 15-year partnership with Baraka. This firm imports, installs and integrates off-grid solar equipment. Baraka works mainly in Ethiopia but also ships a lot of products to Somalia, and has a significant share of the off-grid solar market in both countries.
In Ethiopia, the two companies have set up an assembly facility, while in Kenya and Nigeria Solar Run relies on local partners to cover surrounding markets. In the Francophone areas of Central Africa, the company is just getting started.
For years, Solar Run ran on a minimal-investment model, relying on outsourcing its manufacturing to Chinese factories. It had a small management team and no more than 20 or so employees in total, only one of whom was permanently stationed in Africa.
Building trust in Africa is not simply a case of finding a local agent, but Li says Solar Run takes its partner selection process very seriously. She wants partnerships that allow both parties to grow in fiercely competitive markets. Alongside handling complex relationships with government and customs authorities, partners need sales networks and a certain amount of capital, to ensure products get sold.
Speaking to Dialogue Earth, Baraka’s CEO Mohamed Abdi Ali says the products they sell with Solar Run include simple innovations like the Candle Killer, but also large solar power projects. “I hope to see further cooperation – particularly in localising manufacturing and innovation, and having a greater social impact,” he says.
Chinese solar booms in Africa
Behind the solar products used by Rehema Yusuf’s family, a fierce market battle has been taking place.
Solar Run is just one of the Chinese firms working in Africa’s energy market. A lack of access to electricity, combined with funding from various bodies, has made Africa a hotspot for power sector investments. Around 570 million people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity. This makes off-grid solar the practical choice for many communities looking for their “first kilowatt”.
Meanwhile, China’s solar power manufacturing sector has been expanding. By 2024, it represented more than 90% of global manufacturing capacity for solar cells, and more than 80% for solar panels. The pressure of excess manufacturing capacity and inventory encouraged many solar companies to consider both selling and assembling in emerging markets like Africa, where operating costs can be lower. A steady stream of big Chinese firms came to work on the continent – although many have faced obstacles.
Li Xia says the problems Chinese companies hit overseas are not down to product or technology issues. In her view, problems arise from misunderstanding local customers, and a lack of determination. In addition, Li says expectations on price, product needs and demand are often very different from the reality: “In China, there aren’t many firms willing to target customers without much spending power. But in Africa, there’s a lot of demand going unmet as the economy develops.” Once they arrive, she adds, Chinese firms need to be willing to take time to put down roots and understand the local culture and needs.
Solar Run’s approach is to get to grips with the local market. Li travels back and forth often, spending a third of her time in Africa. That does not mean the company has solved all its problems: logistics costs, exchange rates, policy uncertainties, and new partners failing to pay their bills all remain long-term challenges.
Meanwhile, competition is becoming fierce amid huge market demand and small firms are experiencing many difficulties – there is only so much a team of 20 or 30 people can pull off. Failing to expand means being squeezed out of the market. But expansion necessitates more complex partnerships, with a greater number of organisations across more countries. This all requires investment.
As such, Li Xia’s approach is changing. She initially wanted to keep Solar Run small, but today, she sees that its future prospects must be tied to upscaling. Li hopes business loans will boost her company’s technological and management abilities, so it can continue meeting the African appetite for clean, off-grid power.
