Reference News Network, January 1 report: The website of the U.S. "New York Times" published a report written by journalist Somini Sengupta on December 30, 2025, titled "Cheap Solar Power Is Changing Lives and Economies Across Africa." The following is a translated version:
Cape Town dentist Ismet Buli was troubled by a complicated issue a few years ago: patients came as scheduled, but the clinic had no electricity.
No electricity meant no X-rays, no fillings, no root canals. Dr. Buli said, "I couldn't see any patients at all."
For years, power outages have plagued people in developing countries. Now, people like Buli in South Africa have found a solution to this problem. Thanks to the rapid decline in the price of solar panels and batteries made in China, they now use solar power for electricity.
These are not the small old-fashioned solar lamps used in rural areas in the past, which were only used to light bulbs or power televisions. Today, solar energy storage systems are widely used in various enterprises - automobile factories, wineries, gold mines, and shopping centers. This technology is changing daily life, commerce, and industry in South Africa.
The rise of the solar power industry has been astonishing. In 2019, solar power accounted for almost zero percent of South Africa's power generation capacity, and now it has risen to about 10%.
For more than a century, coal-fired power plants were the main way to obtain electricity globally, but now South Africans no longer completely rely on these large coal-fired power plants. With continuous loss of electricity revenue, the already struggling South African electricity company has had to rethink its business model.
Joel Nana, a project manager at the African Sustainable Energy Organization, calls this phenomenon a "grassroots movement," aimed at solving problems that have plagued generations. The manager said, "The chronic problem of the power supply system is unstable electricity, high electricity prices, or even complete power cuts. We have always lived in such circumstances."
What is happening in South Africa is taking place across the entire African continent. The key to this transformation is China's ambition to lead global clean energy development.
Over the past decade, while the United States expanded fossil fuel exports, China focused on the renewable energy sector. Now, Chinese companies hold a significant share of the global solar panel, electric vehicle, and battery markets, not only significantly lowering product prices, but also actively seeking buyers.
Chinese companies have found a huge new market in Africa, where about 600 million people lack stable electricity supply. According to analysis by the energy think tank "Embers," solar products imported by Africa from China increased by 50% in the first ten months of 2025, and this trend continues.
South Africa is the African country importing the most Chinese solar equipment, with Sierra Leone's imports exceeding half of its current power generation capacity, and Chad's imports also approaching nearly half of its national power generation capacity.
Chinese companies are not just exporting. China Power Construction Group is also building large-scale utility solar power plants in South Africa and other developing countries.
Currently, several Chinese companies are bidding for contracts to build transmission lines for the South African electricity company. South Africa urgently needs to build 14,000 kilometers of transmission lines to transmit the growing solar power throughout the country. (Translated by Liu Zongya)
Original: toutiao.com/article/7590318033197941282/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.