The present report is based on data collected through an in-depth literature review on the six targeted countries as well as individual interviews with a total of 147 key off-grids solar (OGS) stakeholders across these countries, including (i) institutional players, comprising government and regulatory bodies, bilateral and multilateral donors, and nongovernmental organization (NGOs), (ii) solar companies, that is, importers, manufacturers, and distributors of solar equipment on cash and/or credit, for both domestic (lighting and entertainment) and productive purposes (for example, irrigation, cooling), (iii) financial institutions (FIs), comprising commercial banks, microfinance Institutions (MFIs), investment funds, and leasing companies, and (iv) institutions managing financial instruments (direct loans, credit lines, guarantee lines, and so on), comprising international and regional development finance institutions (DFIs), national development funds, and national/regional guarantee funds. The complete list of stakeholders interviewed can be found in Annex 1. The report is organized as follows: section 2 describes the existing policy and regulatory environment of the OGS sector at the regional level and specifically in the six countries covered by the study; section 3 describes the main initiatives, programs, and projects to develop the OGS sector implemented at the regional and national levels; section 4 describes the current distribution landscape for OGS and solar productive use of energy (SPUE) products in the six countries; section 5 describes the current OGS financing landscape in the six countries, both at the FI (section 5.1) and financial instrument manager levels (section 5.2). Finally, section 6 summarizes the key conclusions and provides recommendations for technical and financial support measures to strengthen the sector, with a specific focus on a proposed risk-sharing facility (RSF) for OGS sector financing
