The French multinational energy conglomerate Engie has decided to expand its operations in Africa through the acquisition of Mobisol, an off-grid solar solutions company.

With the acquisition of Mobisol, Engie will provide solar home systems in three additional countries adding to the six where it already has a presence through its sister concern—Fenix International.

In April 2018, Engie completed the acquisition of Fenix International. The acquisition was to help Engie accelerate its development in Africa’s off-grid energy market. Fenix, in turn, would gain access to Engie’s supply chain, expertise, long-term capital investments, and talent across the energy value chain.

Mobisol has operations in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya. The company has installed over 150,000 solar home systems for more than 750,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa.

Meanwhile, Engie already has significant activities in off-grid electrification in Africa.

With its subsidiary Fenix International, the company provides access to energy and financial services through its solar home systems to over 500,000 customers in Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, and Mozambique.

In July 2019, Mercom had reported that Engie’s total renewable capacity in India crossed 1.5 GW after Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) awarded a 280 MW solar project to the company slated to be developed at Raghanesda solar park.

In November 2018, it was reported that Engie acquired a 90% stake in Simpa Energy from its parent company Simpa Networks, a distributed energy solutions provider with the pay-as-you-go model.

According to a report by Global Off-grid Lighting Association (GOGLA), the number of people accessing solar power has increased drastically with a better market penetration of solar off-grid products. The report states that global sales of 3.9 million off-grid solar lighting products were recorded in the second half of 2018. Out of these, 2.95 million were cash products with a value of $99.4 million. Pay as you go (PAYGO) based products had a share of 950,000 units accounting for 24% of the global total, with a value of $164.78 million.