Solar energy is becoming increasingly important for bolstering sub-Saharan Africa’s trading potential, with supply chain executives telling The Loadstar that Kenya and Nigeria are two of the fastest-growing markets for the technology.
By the end of the first quarter, Nigeria had climbed into the top 10 of solar panel suppliers to the US, with some 40% of the country’s total exports of the technology, totalling $64bn, ending up in the US.
That growth has been felt by forwarders and logistics partners. DHL Express’s chief executive for Sub-Saharan Africa, Hennie Heymans, told The Loadstar the company was seeing “incredible growth” in solar-panel exports out of Nigeria – and nor is that country alone.
“We actually see an incredible growth in solar panel exports towards the United States from Nigeria and Kenya,” he said, pointing out that for Africa in general the “new energy” vertical was proving something of a winner, experiencing 20% growth year on year.
Interestingly, local forwarders told The Loadstar solar panels were also proffering volumes in the reverse direction for Kenya, although there was debate around whether the volumes were part of a local redevelopment of energy infrastructure or the result of chaos in the supply chains.
One forwarder told The Loadstar that, amid the situation in Hormuz and growing pockets of congestion at typical transhipment hubs, volumes were routing via Kenya in an effort to avoid being caught up in the chaos.
Mr Heymans, however, believes the growth in solar typifies the present story across Africa, noting that DHL had experienced a recent uptick in enquiries about special economic zones (SEZs) in several African countries, particularly Kenya and South Africa.
Without stating just how many SEZ-related enquiries his office had handled, Mr Heymans said: “In Kenya, we have seen interest focused specifically on Mombasa, as well as Nairobi, and we have seen new entrants in both locations.”
And he is not alone in noting this: businesses the world over are reassessing international supply chains amid geopolitical tension and changing trade policies, with growing indications that the continent is more than well suited as a base for production.