In Vihiga, Kenya, small-scale tomato trader Aisha uses a solar-powered cold room near her market. By paying a weekly fee per crate, she extends the shelf life of her produce from three days to three weeks. "Before the cold room, I would wake up worried that half my tomatoes would rot before I found a buyer," she said. "Now I can keep them for weeks, and that means I decide when to sell, not the heat."
Post-harvest loss remains a central issue in Africa. The Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates up to 40% of some crops never make it to consumers, while Empower Africa calculates that only 5% of fresh produce currently passes through a cold chain, contributing to losses of 30 to 50%.
Distributed solar-powered storage is being deployed to address this. Prefabricated walk-in units with hybrid backups are fitted with booking systems, SMS receipts, and monitoring. Models vary from per-crate rental to subscription lockers. In Kenya, SokoFresh operates cold storage for over 7,000 farmers. In Nigeria, Baridi applies the same model in the meat sector. Larger operators deploy palletised warehouses for exporters and processors.
"Cold rooms are revenue-generating assets with measurable climate benefits. That combination is why funds like ours are stepping in," said Simon Enyadong, regional investment lead at ColdBox, which rents storage facilities in Vihiga.
Financing is expanding. Koolboks, based in Nigeria and France, raised US$11 million in September 2025 to scale its solar freezer business, having deployed over 10,000 units in 25 countries. InspiraFarms in Kenya raised US$1.09 million in 2024 to expand off-grid projects. ColdHubs in Nigeria has built a network of solar walk-in rooms serving thousands of farmers.
In Uganda, an 8,000-pallet warehouse is under construction in Kampala, backed by US$18 million from the Africa Go Green Fund. It will serve agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and retail, with projected avoidance of over 300,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
The Middle East and Africa cold chain market is forecast to grow from US$23.8 billion in 2022 to US$35.1 billion by 2028. Local assembly of cold-room components is lowering costs and improving maintenance.
"We can feed one billion more people globally if we solve post-harvest losses," said Owusu Akoto, CEO of FreezeLink. "By increasing the shelf life of products and preventing food waste, Africa can not only fight food insecurity but also open new markets for exports," added Rwandese entrepreneur Rob Nashihanya.
Source: The Independent