Recently, Japanese solar company TOYO announced that its solar cell factory in Ethiopia officially began operations in early April 2025, with an annual production capacity of 2GW. This milestone marks TOYO's entry into localized manufacturing in Africa. The company plans to deliver over 80MW of solar cells to customers by the end of April and increase monthly output to 150–200MW in May and June, reaching full production capacity.

In March, TOYO revealed plans to double the factory’s capacity from 2GW to 4GW in response to strong external demand, aiming to supply core solar cells to its new 2GW module facility in Texas, USA. TOYO’s Chairman and CEO, Junsei Ryu, stated: “We are very optimistic about the robust market demand and are accelerating the expansion of our Ethiopian plant by another 2GW.”

The launch of the Ethiopian factory coincides with the U.S. Department of Commerce imposing steep anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar products from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. This move has prompted U.S.-based module manufacturers to urgently look for alternative, tariff-free sources of solar cells.

Christian Roselund, Senior Policy Analyst at Clean Energy Associates, commented on LinkedIn: “Although most cell production has already shifted away from the four Southeast Asian nations, the new tariffs will eliminate any remaining capacity, blocking any recovery of their cell manufacturing industries.”

Additionally, Philip Shen, Partner and Senior Analyst at Roth Capital, anticipates that the next round of anti-dumping and countervailing investigations, targeting India, Indonesia, and Laos, is likely to begin by the end of Q2 2025.