**1. Introduction**

Despite the fact that energy is undisputedly vital to generate economic growth and ensure a common social well-being, more than 780 million people worldwide still live without access to electricity [1]. Senegal's GDP increased by 1.7% when a 70 MW power plant was put into operation. The same was observed in Uganda, where GDP increased by 2.6% with the commissioning of a 250 MW hydropower plant [2]. However, sustainable development is stagnating in those regions without electricity access. This is particularly true for populations located in rural areas that are difficult to reach, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [3]. While the access

rate in SSA rose in the past years especially due to the achievements of a very few countries, the Covid-19 pandemic confound this development and added urgency to this topic [4].

Off-grid solar systems provide a feasible solution to electrify these remote areas by closing the access gap and offering reasonable costs and shorter waiting times compared to grid expansion [4, 5]. Apart from a sound technological concept, several other (risk) dimensions influence the reliability and long-lasting persistence of a mini-grid. This publication exemplifies the holistic risk landscape through the case of Tsumkwe, a settlement in the northeast of Namibia. For this purpose, a riskrating model for mini-grids, based on the standardized risk management procedure (SRMP), is used. Steurer et al. (2017) provide a more detailed description of this model, which was refined in the course of this paper [6]. The risk evaluation comprises five categories: Regulation, Economy, Technology, Finance and Education, thus providing an indication of the multi-dimensionality of this subject. Being located in an economically disadvantaged rural area of Namibia, Tsumkwe relies on electricity from a mini-grid, which was set up in 2011 and is, therefore, well suited for the topical investigation.
