This study explores how subsidies can impede the entry of efficient lighting technologies into off-grid markets. The issue of fuel subsidies is essential to understanding the dynamics of the off-grid lighting market, according to the authors. Their study synthesizes and analyses existing information on energy subsidies and off-grid lighting in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries. They explore unintended consequences, the prospects for subsidy reform and associated policy strategies for reducing the need for fuel subsidies.