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,