World's biggest power project in DRC draws interest from DFIs
TLDR
- Five development finance institutions collaborate on Grand Inga hydropower complex project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Collaboration involves major African and BRICS finance institutions, supported by South Africa and Congo presidents.
- South Africa committed to buying power generated by the Grand Inga project.
Five development finance institutions have joined forces to advance the world's largest electricity-generation project, the Grand Inga hydropower complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been stalled for decades.
The Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation, both South African state banks, are collaborating with pan-African institutions — the African Development Bank and African Export-Import Bank — as well as the New Development Bank, the finance arm of the BRICS nations.
“These five parties have taken the initiative to say ‘let’s come together, let’s look at what we can do in terms of getting this goal off the ground’,” Mpho Kubelo, the DBSA’s chief risk officer said. The collaboration began after a global summit in Paris last June and is supported by the presidents of both South Africa and Congo. Additionally, South Africa has agreed to purchase some of the power generated by the project.
Points clés à retenir
If constructed to its full capacity of up to 40 gigawatts, the Grand Inga hydropower complex on the Congo River— the world's third-largest river by volume—would surpass China's Three Gorges Dam as the world's largest electricity plant. However, a history of government corruption scandals and the enormous expected cost of the multiphase project, estimated at over $80 billion, have limited development so far to just two dams with about 1.8 gigawatts of installed capacity built over 40 years ago. Most of this electricity is transmitted 1,000 miles across the country to power Congo's copper and cobalt mines, operated by companies such as CMOC Ltd., China Railway Group Ltd., and Glencore Plc.
Vous pensez que quelqu'un d'autre devrait voir ça ?
Investir dans cette opportunité et dans d'autres opportunités à travers l'Afrique
Téléchargez l'application daba finance sur votre mobile via
Passer à l'action.
Télécharger l'application
Entrez en partenariat avec nous
Débloquez des opportunités commerciales passionnantes et un potentiel de croissance.
Rejoindre Daba
Devenez membre de notre communauté dynamique et profitez d'avantages exclusifs.
Contactez-nous
Contactez-nous pour toute demande de renseignements, assistance ou collaboration.