A "humanitarian market" for off-grid renewable energy technologies for displaced populations in remote areas has emerged. Within this market, there are multiple stakeholder agendas. End-user needs and sustainable development goals are currently not considered through the customer-enterprise relationship and the applied product and service design process. Challenges inherent in the attempt to satisfy multiple stakeholder interests are complicated by short-term planning by humanitarian funding agencies. These challenges have led to poor technical performance, accountability issues and increased mistrust between stakeholders. Enterprises looking for sustainable and predictable markets in the humanitarian relief context will benefit from reflecting upon and communicating their role in this market to organisations and end-users. Including a more participatory development approach may ensure progress towards a more "sustainable" and "real needs"-based market, with products that take long-term considerations into account.