Enabling Uptake of Off-Grid Solar: The Case of Mozambique

Global action on clean energy access is needed to resolve the trilemma of alleviating energy poverty, ensuring energy security, and rapid action on climate change. The uptake of solar energy is an urgent policy and market priority in Sub-Saharan Africa, given its solar potential. Yet for some developing economies such as Mozambique, action on solar implementation in isolated rural communities remains low. We assess the barriers and enablers to off-grid solar uptake, finding that government-manufactured solar-PV panels remains prohibitively expensive, whilst cheaper imported panels remain unreliable due to a lack of clear market regulation and product standards. Government action on electricity access must bring together a regulatory framework for solar imports, open market access through public-private partnership, and enhance energy governance to improve the cost efficiency of “last mile access” for vulnerable rural people.