The Kenyan site, the first of its kind for Sun King, will be able to produce up to 700,000 devices a year, including televisions and smartphones designed to run on solar energy, as well as generators and lamps. The plant will employ several hundred local people, trained in production and maintenance. For Patrick Walsh, co-founder and CEO of Sun King, this is a strategic choice: "We want to capitalize on African talent and ingenuity to continue offering quality products at affordable prices, while strengthening the continent's industrial sovereignty." With this project, Sun King is responding to a major challenge: only 2% of the world's manufacturing value is currently produced in Africa, while the continent's population is set to almost double to 2.5 billion by 2050. By setting up production sites locally, the company reduces its logistics costs and carbon emissions, and strengthens local supply chains. Beyond the economic impact, the stakes are also environmental. Sun King designs and finances a wide range of solar products, from lighting kits to low-consumption freezers, TVs and fans. These already supply more than one in three Kenyan households. Every month, the company delivers over 330,000 solar kits across Africa, giving millions of people access to affordable, reliable electricity.
This local approach is also being pursued in Nigeria, where Sun King has just signed a strategic partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency (a Nigerian public agency under the Ministry of Energy). The agreement provides for the strengthening of local solar equipment manufacturing, the sharing of technical data in the sector, and the promotion of renewable energy as an engine for national growth.
The major objective is to reduce dependence on imports by $150 million over five years and create thousands of additional jobs in the industrial and technological sectors. "We need the private sector to take bold initiatives to accelerate the country's energy transition. Sun King is leading the way," says Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Sun King has already improved the quality of life of 102 million people, raised one of the largest amounts of capital in sub-Saharan Africa, and opened a sales center in Mombasa (Kenya) to accelerate the deployment of solar energy in areas where electricity is still a scarce commodity.
