Dar es Salaam and Kampala are not Nairobi, but they are getting close on solar demand. We have shipped into both ports in the last six months and the buyers we met were ahead of what we expected.
In Tanzania, the biggest pull right now is the mining sector. Mid-tier gold operations around Geita and Shinyanga are running hybrid solar with diesel to cut fuel costs. They want 30 to 100 kW systems, usually three-phase, with monitoring they can read on site. The grid in those areas is not reliable enough to call backup, so the system has to carry the load most of the day.
In Uganda, the demand is more fragmented. Schools, clinics, and small agro-processors around Kampala, Jinja, and Gulu are buying 3 to 10 kW hybrids. Uganda does not have the same grid instability as Nigeria or South Africa, but electricity tariffs keep climbing, and many institutions want predictable costs. Solar gives them that.
Logistics-wise, both ports work but expect friction. Dar es Salaam takes about 18 to 25 days from Guangzhou by sea, with a reliable direct line. Kampala is inland, so cargo goes through Mombasa and then overland. That adds 7 to 10 days and a border crossing. If you are shipping batteries, double-check the MSDS matches the exact battery model on the packing list. Uganda Revenue Authority has been holding lithium containers for paperwork mismatches in 2026.
For sizing, both markets are similar to Kenya: 3 to 5 kW hybrids for homes, 10 to 30 kW for small businesses, larger for industrial. The interesting shift we see is a move toward 48 V battery architectures even at the small end, because buyers want expandability without re-engineering the wall.