Malawi’s solar push bypasses its poorest:
A peer-reviewed study tracking 1 371 rural households in Malawi’s Lilongwe District has found that the country’s rapidly expanding off-grid solar sector is systematically bypassing its poorest citizens, raising questions about electrification targets promoted by the government and international development partners.
The research, published in August 2025 in the journal Energy Research & Social Science, was conducted by scholars from the University of Michigan, Duke University, Harvard University and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The study found that wealthier households were 2.51 times more likely to adopt a solar home system than poorer households.
Even when systems were installed, their capacity was extremely limited. The median solar device across the sample produced just six watts, barely above the five-watt threshold used by the World Bank to classify Tier 1 electricity access. At that level, electricity typically supports little more than phone charging and a single dim light.
Nearly 29% of households that owned solar devices abandoned them within 12 months, raising concerns about reliability, affordability and long-term usability.
Malawi has one of the lowest electricity access rates in the world. According to the International Energy Agency, only 14% of Malawians had electricity access in 2022, with rural access at 5.6%. Data from the World Bank places rural access slightly higher, at 6.1% in 2023.
In response, governments, development banks and private companies have increasingly promoted off-grid solar technology as the fastest route to rural electrification across sub-Saharan Africa.
But the new study, led by researcher Thomas Mahieu, challenges that narrative. Drawing on two survey waves conducted between 2022 and 2023, the researchers found that solar expansion is occurring but at levels that might not translate into meaningful energy access.
By the end of the study period, 33.7% of households owned at least one solar device, representing a 4.5 percentage-point increase over 12 months.
On paper, the growth appears encouraging. But the researchers caution that ownership alone is a poor indicator of real electricity access. The central issue is not whether households own solar devices but how much power those devices provide.
The Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme classifies Tier 1 electricity access as systems delivering five to 50 watts, sufficient for basic lighting and phone charging. Tier 2, above 50 watts, allows households to run small appliances such as TVs or fans.
In the Malawi study, only 11% of solar-owning households reached Tier 2. The remaining 89% remained at Tier 1 or below, using systems too weak to power productive appliances, support small businesses or provide reliable lighting for students.
At the start of the study, 75% of households had no qualifying electricity access — defined as less than five watts of solar capacity. After a year of sector growth, 70% remained in that category.
The researchers warn against conflating solar ownership with meaningful improvements in living standards.
“Policymakers should be careful to assume that binary indicators of solar ownership reflect energy access that supports major improvements in quality of life,” the authors write.
They note that assuming solar ownership automatically delivers meaningful energy services is “misguided”. The study’s most consequential finding concerns the distribution of solar access.
Wealthier households were 2.51 times more likely to adopt solar home systems and 1.84 times more likely to adopt standalone solar panels than poorer households.
Financial inclusion also proved decisive. Households with access to bank accounts, informal savings groups or mobile money services were 2.41 times more likely to own a solar home system.
The result is a structural paradox: technologies promoted as solutions to energy poverty are being adopted primarily by those least affected by it. Malawi’s experience mirrors a broader regional pattern.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 83.3% of the global electricity access deficit in 2022, up from 49.6% in 2010, even as other regions have made rapid progress.
The paradox is striking. Africa holds about 60% of the world’s best solar resources, yet 51% of its population lacks electricity.
To achieve universal access by 2030, the IEA estimates that electrification rates must triple and investment must double across the continent. The study also highlights a phenomenon rarely discussed in energy policy debates: solar disadoption.
Among households that owned solar devices, 28.6% had fewer devices after one year than at the beginning of the study, indicating a contraction in energy access. Among owners of standalone solar panels, the disadoption rate reached 40.1%.
Households abandoning systems typically fell from Tier 1 back to Tier 0, losing even the limited energy services previously available. Respondents cited device faults, unaffordable costs and declining need as reasons for abandoning systems.
Previous research in Malawi and elsewhere in the region has identified additional structural issues, including poor product quality, difficulties maintaining pay-as-you-go payments and a shortage of repair technicians.
A 2020 study by researcher Shanil Samarakoon, also published in Energy Research & Social Science, found that many faulty solar systems in Malawi remain unrepaired because of limited technical expertise.
The study concluded that the country’s off-grid solar market “does not offer a sustainable solution to energy poverty, instead reinforcing socioeconomic inequities”.
The research also identified notable gender dynamics. Female-headed households were nearly four times more likely to own a solar home system than male-headed households. The researchers suggest this might reflect targeted marketing campaigns by solar companies.
At the same time, female-headed households were 55% less likely to own standalone solar panels, which tend to offer more power per watt but are usually sold without pay-as-you-go financing.
The researchers question whether the marketing strategies genuinely expand women’s energy access or instead channel them toward debt-financed products that might be difficult to sustain.
To stimulate Malawi’s off-grid solar market, the government and the World Bank launched the Ngwee Ngwee Ngwee Fund, a $ 20 million (about R330m) market-development programme combining a $ 6-million results-based financing grant with a $ 14m debt facility.
The fund supports five solar companies: Yellow Solar, Zuwa Energy, Green Impact Technologies, VITALITE Group and StarTimes Media.
Its initial target was 200 000 new rural household connections by June 2024. According to programme records, the target was reached in October 2024, with more than 900 000 beneficiaries reported.
However, the independent household data collected in the study appears difficult to reconcile with those figures. In Lilongwe District, where companies supported by the fund operate, the researchers recorded only a 4.5 percentage-point increase in solar ownership during the study period.
Questions about Malawi’s electrification progress extend beyond the solar market. In early 2025, former energy minister Ibrahim Matola told parliament that rural electricity access had reached 25%, nearly triple the level recorded in 2020. That claim contrasts sharply with World Bank estimates placing rural access at 6.1% in 2023.
Infrastructure delivery has also lagged behind targets. The government’s Marep Phase 9 rural electrification programme, intended to connect 460 trading centres by 2024, had connected only 140 sites by September 2024 after missing two earlier deadlines.
Project costs also rose significantly, increasing from 40 billion Malawian kwacha (about R380m) to 70 billion kwacha, partly due to currency devaluation. The findings feed into a wider debate about how electricity access is measured globally.
Current reporting by the United Nations, the IEA and the World Bank counts households with as little as three watts of solar capacity as having electricity access.
The Malawi study suggests that threshold may be overly optimistic. With a median solar capacity of six watts, most households in the survey could do little more than charge a phone and power a single light bulb.
Global data points to similar limitations. The Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme and the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association estimate that only 158 million of the 490 million people served by off-grid solar worldwide use systems meeting international quality standards.
The central policy question confronting governments, development banks and solar companies is whether market-driven deployment models can reach the poorest households without direct subsidies.
The evidence emerging from Malawi suggests that they cannot.
Warrant officer Phakula accuses Feroz Khan of orchestrating arrest to derail cocaine bust:
The police operation surrounding a R286 million cocaine bust in Johannesburg descended into chaos amid allegations that officers attempted to steal the consignment, Warrant Officer Steven Phakula has told the Madlanga commission.
Giving further testimony before the commission, Phakula said Warrant Officer Marumo Magane had called him to Aeroton, Johannesburg, to assist in searching a truck suspected of carrying drugs.
But the scene had quickly become overcrowded with police officers before the Hawks and Major General Feroz Khan, the head of counter-intelligence and security, assumed control.
Phakula alleged that some officers at the scene had been more interested in diverting attention than investigating the crime.
“It is evident that the intentions of those officers at the scene were not to investigate the crime. The only way for them to take control of that crime scene was to arrest us. In that way they could divert the attention to the arrested police officers and let the real perpetrators free,” Phakula testified.
The 999kg cocaine consignment originated from the Port of Santos in Brazil and was intercepted in Johannesburg. Two South African Police Service (SAPS) officers and two Gauteng traffic officers were arrested in connection with the case.
“Warrant Officer Magane pointed to a Yellow Jersey Truck, yellow in colour, hooked to a 12m container trailer and told me that the drugs on the back of the bakkie fell from the container. They were assisted by Scania employees who loaded those bags onto the back of the bakkie to preserve them,” he said.
Phakula said Khan had arrived shortly afterwards and instructed Magane to sit inside a vehicle for a discussion.
“The fact of the matter is that Major General Khan gave instructions for the arrest of Nku, he gave instructions to Mogane to go sit in the car and not get out, he prevented the dog unit from performing their duties at the scene, he disarmed Chief Mashaba and he walked away from the scene with the truck driver.”
Phakula said he had then been arrested by Captain Sebola, whom he described as one of the last officers to arrive at the scene. No proper explanation had been given for his arrest.
He said he had been detained at Booysens SAPS alongside Magane, Gauteng traffic chief Samuel Mashaba and a man he came to know as Tumelo Nku, after they were placed together in the back of a police vehicle.
Phakula also referenced the disciplinary proceedings involving Khan, saying the major general had ultimately been cleared of all charges.
“General Khan was eventually cleared of all charges by the [disciplinary hearing] chairperson. It came as no surprise to me that, in the days leading up to this hearing, the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing, Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi, as well as the witnesses, came under negative media attack,” he said.
He told the commission that he had successfully appealed for reinstatement into the police service in November 2023 and testified during Khan’s disciplinary hearing in February 2025.
“Major General Khan asked me who the drugs belonged to and I told him that people say they belong to him and he laughed. He told me that he could see that I was doing an honest job and I requested that he could submit a statement as there was a disciplinary hearing against me for the same case,” Phakula testified.
Khan was arrested in a high-profile raid at his Houghton flat on Sunday. He appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Monday, alongside Gauteng Hawks boss Major-General Ebrahim Kadwa and director of Point Blank Security Tariq Downe. They face two counts — contravening section 4 of the Precious Metals Act and defeating or obstructing the course of justice.
Africa’s Travel Indaba boosts Durban economy and drives African tourism growth:
Against a backdrop of 1 000 exhibitors, buyers from more than 40 countries and thousands of delegates at Durban’s Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, Africa’s Travel Indaba is positioning tourism as a major economic driver for both the city and the continent.
The continent’s largest tourism marketing event, which included the Business Opportunity Networking Day (BONDay), has provided a platform to showcase Africa’s diverse tourism offerings while generating significant economic spinoffs for local entities such as Durban Tourism and the South African National Parks (SANParks).
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism could contribute $ 168 billion to Africa’s economy and support more than 18 million jobs over the next decade.
The council said this would include investment in conferencing, hospitality and travel infrastructure — driving Africa’s growth and strengthening regional business connections to unprecedented levels.
Asked about the impact of the Indaba on the host city, Durban Tourism deputy director Winile Mntungwa described Africa’s Travel Indaba as “highly significant to Durban’s tourism sector, as it positions the city as a leading tourism, business and events destination in Africa”.
Mntungwa said the events has contributed to increased occupancy rates in hotels, stimulated local transportation, hospitality and several businesses in the tourism events ecosystem.
Projections for 2026 indicate a strong economic outlook, with an overall hotel occupancy rate of 87% recorded.
Mntungwa said the event and related activities were expected to attract about 9 900 visitors, generating about R240 million in direct spending, with total tourism expenditure reaching R835 million.
“The indaba has also created numerous jobs, both directly and indirectly, through increased demand for services and supplies. Overall, it has reinforced Durban’s reputation as a vibrant tourism hub and events capital, with ongoing benefits for the city’s economy and employment landscape,” she said.
“It has highlighted Durban’s commitment to growing its tourism economy through infrastructure investments, increased global connectivity and the promotion of diverse attractions — from beaches, cultural heritage and exclusive culinary [experiences] to sports, cruise tourism and endless tranquillity.”
Speaking to journalists at the SANParks exhibition stand, chief executive Hapiloe Sello and interim board chairperson Beryl Ferguson said the entity’s participation in this year’s Indaba was centred on using the global tourism platform to reflect on a century of conservation leadership while actively shaping the future of inclusivity and sustainability in the sector.
A global leader in conservation, SANParks oversees iconic protected areas such as the Kruger National Park, which this year celebrates 100 years since its establishment. The public entity is responsible for managing the country’s 21 national parks, covering more than four million hectares and protecting diverse flora, fauna and cultural heritage.
SANParks’ participation at this year’s Indaba is anchored on the theme “Our Heritage, Our Future”, aligning with the centenary of the Kruger National Park — one of Africa’s most iconic conservation landscapes.
Sello said Africa’s Travel Indaba provided a powerful continental and global platform to position national parks “not only as tourism destinations, but as contributing meaningfully to nature, community development, cultural heritage and economic inclusion”.
Kruger National Park’s centenary is both a moment of commemoration and reflection, said Sello. “It honours extraordinary conservation achievements, while acknowledging lessons learned from the painful past of land dispossession and displacements.
“As we look ahead, our focus is firmly on inclusive conservation models that ensure national parks deliver lasting value for both nature and people,” she said.
“‘Our Heritage, Our Future’ encapsulates SANParks’ commitment to honouring all aspects of the rich natural and cultural legacy of South Africa’s protected areas, while pioneering forward-thinking approaches to conservation and tourism.
“‘Our Future’ signals responsibility, continuity and safeguarding value for generations to come,” she added.
As part of its Indaba programme, SANParks hosted its flagship “Conversations about Conservation” dialogue — a platform aimed at improving understanding of the contribution conservation makes to South Africa’s tourism economy.
Hapiloe said this year’s discussion would reflect on the centenary of the Kruger National Park, including “lessons learned that must shape the future, exploring how conservation, tourism, science and community partnership must work together to ensure resilience over the next century.
“The dialogue will bring together conservation leaders, tourism stakeholders, media and partners to engage openly on the role of tourism in funding conservation, creating employment and supporting inclusive growth in and around protected areas.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa used his keynote address at the Indaba to underscore efforts by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to advance the SADC Tourism Univisa.
The regime will enable seamless, borderless travel for tourists across SADC member states.
“Tourism is more than a sector of the economy. It is a living expression of who we are as a people,” Ramaphosa said.
“Last year, South Africa welcomed 10.5 million international visitors to our shores, a clear sign that the world is rediscovering our country with renewed enthusiasm. It is significant that three-quarters of international arrivals come from the SADC region.
“This tells us something important: Africans are choosing Africa. We are also working to expand our one-stop border posts and develop cross-border itineraries that showcase the richness of our region.
“When Africans travel within Africa, we strengthen our economies, deepen our cultural ties and build a more integrated continent.”
Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille said the department would continue enabling investment in the tourism sector through the Tourism Infrastructure Investment Summit.
“During the inaugural summit last year, we unveiled eight projects from both the public and private sectors, valued at around R1 billion,” she said.
De Lille said the tourism sector was shifting from recovery to growth, with forecasts from the World Travel and Tourism Council suggesting tourism could contribute about $ 168 billion to Africa’s economy and support more than 18 million jobs over the next decade.
According to Nick Dickson, group custodian at Dream Hotels & Resorts, events such as Africa’s Travel Indaba highlighted how business travel across the continent was evolving.
“There is growing demand for travel within Africa itself and for experiences that balance productivity with a strong sense of place. This is where the industry has a real opportunity to create more connected and experience-driven travel across the continent,” said Dickson.
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