Theft is not much of an issue here.I have witnessed a fallen solar street light that stayed months on the ground on a lonely road. No one thought it necessary to steal it. People may know it's valuable, but I guess it is a technology that most are yet to adopt. So, stealing one may not be an easy venture in terms of disposal.
Also, many solar users are not quick to buy fairly used solar panels as it may be gotten illegally from the government since they run the biggest solar projects, and nobody wants a problem with the government :)
I sure hope nobody steals it, in any case! Being self-sufficient in energy sounds like a great plan in any country, but maybe particularly so in Africa.
Did you ever hear of that guy in Malawi who built a wind power generator from scratch by reading how to do it on the internet? A bit more primitive but I thought that was cool too: https://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_how_i_harnessed_the_wind
Yes, I have watched this Ted talk and read about him. Almost with zero knowledge of electricity. We have gifted individuals here. There is a guy that builds RC Quadcopter using the different salvaged part from radio mechanics. He has a zero diploma in electronics or engineering!