Establishing Pakistan Solar PV sector  – Readiness of the financial sector

BSW Solar, through funding from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, has implemented the project ‘Establishing the Solar PV Sector through Quality’ in Pakistan. The project had the following objectives:

• To disseminate targeted information about quality companies, certified installers and products to the different segments and consumers in Pakistan through dissemination activities;
• To qualify the banking sector about the evaluation of PV projects and inform them about the benefits of quality PV;
• To standardize procedures of PV installation through certification;
• To stimulate the trade exchange between Pakistan and Germany through B2B and matchmaking activities.

BSW Solar has engaged the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management (FS) to assist in the implementation of certain components of the ‘Establishing the Solar PV Sector through Quality’ Project. In particular, FS has been tasked to qualify the banking sector about the evaluation of PV projects and inform them about the benefits of quality PV.

Description of actual services provided by your staff within the assignment:

• FS conducted a needs assessment of banks interested in pursuing a green finance product or strategy including financing of solar PV installations for commerical and industrial clients. The needs assessment consisted of semi-structured interviews and portfolio screening to determine capacity gaps.
• FS mapped out a training concept against these needs taking into account local market intelligence from a rapid market assessment to determine the most impactful capacity development work streams that the financial sector would benefit from.
• The training concept was designed including development and tutorials of financial viability tools that could be utilized among loan officers and during the credit appraisal process. The models developed were equipped with user-friendly sensitivity analysis and scenario capabilities. The models were incorporated into the training through real life case studies from Pakistan.
• The training program also delved into technical and economic aspects most relevant for C&I clients in Pakistan including risk management techniques, collateral valuation, and most appropriate financial structures.

Training was delivered over several multi-day workshops covering RE finance economics, technical assessments, project development, market analysis, client outreach, risk management, and applying lessons to real life examples utilizing new tools and processes to make more informed and profitable banking decisions.