(Bloomberg) -- A global organization representing makers of off-grid solar products and systems said $21.3 billion needs to be invested to bring power to hundreds of millions of unconnected people by 2030 and reverse a decline in access.
That would represent six times the amount of money the industry has attracted to date and would require $3.6 billion to be allocated annually over the next six years, Gogla said in a report released Tuesday. The number of people globally without electricity rose to 685 million in 2022, the latest year for which data is available and the first increase in two decades, according to the industry group.
“Access to finance remains a significant challenge for the off-grid solar industry,” Gogla said in the report released ahead of its annual conference.
The push by the group — whose members range from the makers of mini-grids that can power villages to solar-lantern providers — comes as the World Bank and the African Development Bank forge ahead with a plan to provide electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030. The institutions have pledged $30 billion to the project, dubbed Mission 300, and plan to raise three times that.
Of those without electricity, 85% live-in sub-Saharan Africa compared with 50% in 2010, Gogla said. Off-grid power would be the cheapest way to supply electricity to 41% of those without power, it said.
The required investment would need to be split between debt and equity for companies in the industry, subsidies and grants, it said.
--With assistance from Prinesha Naidoo and Monique Vanek.
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