ISA Director General champions solar equity at Accra regional meeting

The Director General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Ashish Khanna, has said solar energy offers Africa not only a path to cleaner power but also a means to ensure equity.

Speaking at a press briefing during the Seventh Africa Regional Committee Meeting of ISA in Accra, Mr Khanna said distributed renewable energy is transforming the way communities access electricity.

“Distributed renewable energy allows each household to have a solar rooftop and a battery, communities to have their own mini-grid solutions rather than depending solely on central utilities. By its very nature, this ensures equity,” he said.

He stated that technology costs had fallen sharply, making solar the most affordable option.

“There has been almost a 70% reduction in the cost of solar, making these options the cheapest way of supplying energy,” Mr Khanna said.

On financing, he explained that ISA had introduced a USD 200 million Africa Solar Facility to support distributed renewable energy projects.

“Private sector players who want to scale up distributed renewable energy across Africa will get blended finance and other risk mitigation support from ISA,” he stated.

He stressed that the funding was not only for startups, adding: “Anyone who has a distributed renewable energy project with an idea for scale-up can access that financing through Africa50, which is also owned by 24 governments.”

Mr Khanna also underlined the importance of capacity building. “The only way to get out of energy poverty is to build your own capacity to find your own solutions. This is the lesson from India,” he said. ISA, he explained, is working with governments to designate local universities as Centres of Excellence.

“We are aligning with universities chosen by governments, making them centres of excellence for building capability, including startups,” he added.

He highlighted ISA’s SolarX competition as part of this effort. “We had a competition called SolarX, where 20 African startups are now working with 10 startups from India and 20 from Asia-Pacific to see how they can grow their ideas into large companies,” Mr Khanna said.

“We are actually meeting in Mauritius, under Business Mauritius, for all 50 startups to develop their ideas further.”

On regional integration, he said ISA was engaging with countries on connecting to the West African Power Pool.

“Of course, it is very important that we have a shared platform. The shared platform is now Mission 300, where donors, stakeholders and ISA are going to complement each other,” he said.

He cited discussions with The Gambia on advisory support to connect solar parks to the pool and added: “We will be discussing with other countries if they need large-scale solar plants, which make more sense when connected to the pools.”

Mr Khanna reiterated ISA’s global ambition of intercontinental solar interconnection under the “One Sun, One World, One Grid” initiative. “It sounds ambitious and unrealistic, but when you develop large solar power, you need a lot of battery storage at night. Sometimes you cannot invest in huge storage if you develop regional connections, because when it is peak daytime in India, it is not peak in the Middle East and Africa,” he said.

“So you can buy from each other at different points of time. That is the interconnection we will eventually have in Africa.”

The Seventh Africa Regional Committee Meeting in Accra brought together ministers, investors and development partners to discuss ways of accelerating solar adoption.

Ghana’s hosting of the meeting positions the country as a key partner in shaping Africa’s renewable energy future, with ISA pledging to provide financial and technical support to governments and private sector players in scaling solar technologies.

The post ISA Director General champions solar equity at Accra regional meeting appeared first on The Herald ghana.

Read More

  • Related Posts

    TikTok revolutionises how Tanzanian SMEs reach customers

    TikTok is rapidly evolving from a platform for viral trends into a powerful business and discovery tool, giving Tanzanian entrepreneurs a cost-effective way to showcase their products, reach new customers,…

    High Court to hear case against ACT candidate’s election disqualification

    The High Court in Dodoma is set to hear a case challenging the decision to block ACT-Wazalendo presidential candidate Luhaga Mpina after the party filed an emergency application following INEC’s…

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Business & Economy

    Nigerian crude sells $71 per barrel, OPEC+ signals output boost

    Adlantique named Nigeria’s best in digital marketing and content creativity at 2025 Beacon of ICT Awards 

    U.N. halts air service in Nigeria over lack of funds after 9 years 

    BPE to list Discos, Genco on Stock Exchange as part of 2025 revenue drive 

    FG commits N90 billion to support 400,000 tertiary students’ education through NELFUND 

    NHIA launches self-service enrollment portal for Nigerians to access health insurance online 

    NiMet forecasts nationwide rain, thunderstorms from Thursday to Saturday 

    T2 partners India’s Knot Solutions in a multi-million dollar deal to modernise telecom systems 

    EFCC arrests Gavice Logistics CEO for alleged N2 billion Ponzi scheme fraud 

    Airtel Africa Foundation Offers Tech Scholarships to Nigerian Students

    T2, Huawei Partner to Boost Core Network Infrastructure

    Zinox Partners KongaCares on Interest-free Digital Initiative

    Minimum Wage: NECA Commends Imo, Ebonyi Govt, Urge Others to Do Same

    New Initiatives to Reposition RMAFC

    Nigeria’s revenues hit N20.6 trillion in eight months on non-oil gains – Official

    Nigeria’s revenues hit N20.6 trillion in eight months on non-oil gains – Official

    FG, nurses union reach fresh agreement on service scheme, reserve 60% job quota

    Lagos attracted over $6 billion in tech startup funding between 2019 and 2024 – Sanwo-Olu 

    Standard Bank revises Naira outlook, projects N1,585.5/$1 by end of 2025 

    US commits $32.5m to support food security in Nigeria

    US government donates $32.5 million to WFP to address hunger in Nigeria

    US government donates $32.5 million to WFP to address hunger in Nigeria

    NGX penny stocks: The risky bet that might pay off again this September 

    FCTA revokes all park licenses in Abuja, calls for fresh resubmission 

    International Finance Corporation warns Africa risks missing AI boom without infrastructure and skills  

    Tinubu orders implementation of mandatory health insurance across MDAs, urges compliance monitoring 

    New TotalEnergies deepwater deal to accelerate Nigeria’s shift to gas – NUPRC CEO

    Law firm raises red flags over governance conflicts in Nigeria’s Insurance Reform Act 2025 

    FCCPC issues new regulation to address loan app harassment

    FCCPC issues new regulation to address loan app harassment

    Regency Alliance reports N2.5 billion 2024 profit on strong insurance revenue, investments 

    FCCPC commences ‘N100 million sanction rule’ against Non-Compliant Digital Lending Operators in Nigeria 

    African businesses face 35% higher technology costs than global peers- IFC 

    FG digitizes Basic Health Care Fund to boost transparency, accountability in PHC financing across Nigeria  

    Lagos state to cut Blue Line fares by 50% as ridership tops 5 million in two years

    A celebration of vision and impact: Built to Close by Tope Dare officially launched

    Mazerance; the game, the people and the long road ahead

    Dangote Refinery: FCCPC abandons bid to challenge Court’s dismissal in N100 billion petrol import license suit   

    FG declares Friday, September 5, as public holiday to mark Eid-ul-Mawlid