Namibia’s Pupkewitz Megatech has been granted a coveted distribution license for JinkoSolar into some of the SADC countries, including South Africa.
Jinko is one of the largest manufacturers of solar panels in the world and this license makes Pupkewitz one of only five Jinko distributors for South Africa.
in the past few years, South Africa, for instance, has suffered electricity outages leaving many without power for up to 10 hours a day. In 2022 alone, the nation faced 200 days of electricity outages. This not only dampened economic growth but also negatively affected various industries, leading to a drop in overall productivity.
“This is quite an accomplishment for a Namibian company and is the result of our persistent efforts, as well as the prevailing energy crisis in South Africa. Unfortunately, extensive load shedding in South Africa means that the ports have been severely disrupted,” said Andrea Barry, Group Strategy Director at the Pupkewitz Group of Companies said adding “To give an example, in recent months, we had two identical containers of solar panels shipped from China on the same vessel, stopping in Cape Town to drop the first container, then continuing onto Walvis Bay to drop the second.
“We managed to clear the second container through the Walvis Bay Port and move the products to Windhoek, while the first container remained held up at the Cape Town Port. We are now pushing solar panels down through Namibia into South Africa, as it’s a more efficient route.”
In this light, she went on to say that the Namibian government has long held aspirations for Namibia to become a regional logistics hub, resulting in substantial investments in the development of the Walvis Bay Port – transforming it into a deep-water port and connecting Namibia to its five neighbouring countries.
“In fulfilment of this ambition, MegaTech has demonstrated the success of this approach for South Africa, and is furthering this through export to Angola. Botswana and Zambia are still nascent markets for us, but are very much part of the strategy within the next one to two years. Plans are underway to expand MegaTech’s retail branch footprint into neighbouring countries in the coming years too,” said Barry.
JinkoSolar is one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world. JinkoSolar distributes its solar products and sells its solutions and services to a diversified international utility, commercial and residential customer base in China, the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, South Africa, India, Mexico, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Greece and other countries and regions.
JinkoSolar had 14 productions facilities globally, 24 overseas subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, Indonesia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, and global sales teams in China, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Spain, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Vietnam and India, as of September 30, 2023.
Last year JinkoSolar announced that it is the winner of the Solar Power World 2023 Leadership in Solar Energy Award in the solar panel category.
Solar Power World is a premier media outlet for the U.S. solar market and has the largest solar installer, contractor, and developer audience in the industry. Solar Power World’s user community voted for JinkoSolar as the solar panel manufacturer who, in its opinion, best exemplifies solar leadership.
“JinkoSolar is a leader in many areas, including technology, R&D, and ESG,” said Nigel Cockroft, General Manager of JinkoSolar (U.S.) Inc. at the time. “We believe this award further reflects our industry leading local service and support to our U.S. customers. We are proud to receive this award from Solar Power World and look forward to maintaining our leadership in the U.S. solar industry in the years to come.”
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is grappling with a severe energy crisis. Governments throughout the region are struggling to consistently supply electricity, which is essential for powering their economies and furthering regional economic integration. Historically, the region has faced challenges ensuring that the vast majority of its population – particularly those in rural areas lacking basic infrastructure – have access to electricity. Currently, only about 50 percent of the SADC region has access to electricity, underscoring the urgent need to ramp up electrification efforts. Recent electricity outages, spurred by poorly maintained infrastructure and slow shifts to renewable energy sources, have exacerbated this already pressing issue.
Additional reporting by ECP.