South Africa, Ghana and Kenya Renewable Manufacturing Held Back

What changed

A four-year study by the Institute for Economic Justice and partners finds that renewable-energy manufacturing in South Africa, Ghana and Kenya is being held back by irregular public procurement, weak local-content enforcement, import competition and limited testing standards. Their renewable capacity has grown to more than 7GW in South Africa, 5.3GW in Ghana and 2.6GW in Kenya, but that expansion has not reliably translated into local factories or decent work.

Why it matters

The central problem is not a lack of renewable-energy demand. It is demand that arrives in fits and starts.

Public programmes helped build capacity: South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, Kenya’s 2019 Energy Act, and Ghana’s 2021 National Energy Policy and amended 2011 Renewable Energy Act. But intermittent procurement cycles make it harder for manufacturers to invest, expand or retain workers. A factory cannot plan around a market that repeatedly disappears between tender rounds.

Imports have filled the gap, with renewable technologies rising substantially across all three countries. China’s established manufacturers benefit from scale, mature supply chains and strong industrial policy. South African producers therefore face higher costs, while Ghana and Kenya are still trying to move from emerging assembly work toward deeper manufacturing.

Local-content rules could change that, but only if governments enforce them. South Africa’s “staged consignment” loophole allows large equipment to enter as lower-duty components, weakening local sourcing requirements. Ghana faces a different problem: finished solar products may receive import-duty exemptions, while some parts needed for local assembly do not receive equivalent treatment. That makes assembly less attractive precisely where policymakers want it to grow.

The labour question is just as important. The study finds persistent gender bias, care burdens that limit entry and weak results in creating decent work. Our reading is that renewable expansion alone will not produce a broad industrial base. If procurement becomes steadier, tariff rules are aligned and local-content enforcement improves, the three countries could capture more of the manufacturing value. If not, they may continue installing more renewable capacity while importing much of the equipment and leaving workers with the thinner end of the opportunity.