African renewable firm DPA sees net staff loss

From the newsletter

Distributed Power Africa (DPA), a pan-African renewable energy company, has reduced its workforce by 12% in the past year. The attrition rate, tracking the number of staff departures, was almost twice that at 23%, Seven new hires made up for some of the losses. Still, the sector is left to wonder what's going on at the company.

• The company experienced the largest staff losses in South Africa and Zimbabwe, which are its core markets. South Africa has seen strong renewables growth. Most departing employees are moving to competitors. Three joined Grid Africa, a solar solutions provider.

• Only in the technical and sales department did the company have new hires, with the solar technicians now accounting for 7% of the employees. 

More details

• Our data, tracked over 12 months, reveals a downward hiring spiral from June 2024 for senior-level positions. The company started losing staff members at a fast pace, which continued into October the same year, where it slightly increased all through December 2024. Since then, the company has not onboarded any new staff members.

• In terms of regions, the company has reduced hiring in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. Onboarding of senior professionals in these two countries went down significantly during the period chartered above, whereas in Kenya, the company retained the rate at which it was hiring professionals.

• Despite losing talent to competitors, the company has also moved staff from one country to the other. We noticed that the company relocated 2 of their staff members to their branches in Kenya and South Africa, respectively. Moreover, they also gained one team member from Central Electricals International Limited, an electrical and associated works contracting and maintenance company.

• The company’s workforce is relatively tenured with the average standing at 3.4 years. Human resources is the most tenured. Product management and accounting come second and third, respectively. Staff in administration are the least tenured with 0.8 years. Business development staff and real estate agents are a close second and third.

• In terms of experience, the human resource staff take the lead here as well with 23. 3 years of industry maturity. Lawyers and people in the legal team for the company are second with 21.6 years. People in accounts are also experienced with 17.3 years. The least experienced are people in the administration department, as well as those in information technology and product management.

• Most employees working for DPA either have solar technology skills or skills adjacent to solar. In fact, the workforce is heavily skilled in solar compared to analytical skills and electric utility management skills. The dominance of solar and renewable skills reflects the company's focus on solar. For example, this year, it signed a deal with Kenya’s Centum Re to build the largest solar rooftop installation for residential and commercial use in East Africa with 3.2 MW capacity..

• The company also mostly hires from institutions in Zimbabwe, with 20% of the senior workforce graduating from the University of Zimbabwe. Midlands State University takes up the second spot, as 8% of the company's senior talent studied there. The rest of the workforce is from universities in Kenya and South Africa.

• In school, DPA’s workforce pursued electrical and electronics engineering, with 10 senior staff members. This translates to the operation the company mainly deals with and the projects they have been undertaking. Other staff members studied business administration and management (5 staff), project management (4 staff members), as well as accounting 4 members.

Our take

• By maintaining hiring rates in Kenya while reducing them in Zimbabwe and South Africa, DPA is strategically focusing on regions with more stable or promising renewable energy markets. This could be a calculated move to consolidate resources in areas with better growth prospects, ensuring the company remains competitive in the African renewable energy sector.

• The significant attrition rate, with many employees moving to competitors, suggests that DPA may be struggling to retain top talent. This could be due to competitive offers from other companies or internal issues such as career development opportunities or work environment. Addressing these challenges is crucial for DPA to maintain its competitive edge in the renewable energy market.

• Despite the overall hiring slowdown, DPA's increase in solar staff indicates a strategic focus on renewable energy projects. This emphasis on solar technology aligns with broader trends in the decentralized renewable energy (DRE) sector, which is expected to create significant job opportunities across Africa. By prioritising solar, DPA positions itself well for future growth in the renewable energy market.