Pakistan, a country with less sunshine and lower per capita income than Ghana, now generates 25 percent of its electricity from solar power. Meanwhile, Ghana, blessed with equatorial sun and relatively better infrastructure, struggles to reach even 3 percent solar generation.
The contrast is jarring and reveals a story not about resources or climate, but about policy, vision, and implementation.
Pakistan's solar revolution didn't happen by accident. Starting in 2021, the government launched aggressive net metering policies that allowed households and businesses to sell excess solar power back to the grid at competitive rates. They streamlined permitting, reduced import duties on solar equipment, and most critically, created financing mechanisms that made rooftop installations affordable for middle-class families.
The results speak for themselves. From Karachi to Lahore, rooftops glitter with solar panels. The country added 4,000 megawatts of solar capacity in just three years, with much of it coming from distributed rooftop installations rather than large-scale solar farms.
Ghana, by contrast, has struggled with policy inconsistency. Net metering regulations exist on paper but implementation remains patchy. The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission published net metering guidelines in 2016, yet fewer than 200 customers had actually connected to the scheme as of last year.
"The policy framework exists, but the execution is where we fail," said Kwame Pianim, a renewable energy consultant based in Accra. "In Pakistan, you can get your solar system connected to the grid in two weeks. In Ghana, you're looking at months of bureaucracy, if you're lucky."
Financing is another critical gap. Pakistan's banks, backed by government guarantees, offer solar loans at subsidized rates. 's financial sector remains cautious, treating solar installations as risky investments that require collateral most families don't have.
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