The second largest country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has one of the lowest electrification rates on the continent: 15% nationally, with major disparities between cities (35%), rural areas (1%), and peri-urban areas (less than 5%). Yet this immense territory – 4.5 times the size of France – alone represents 8% of the world’s hydroelectric potential, a source of energy that makes up 95% of the country’s electricity mix. Home to the largest river on the continent (and the second largest in the world after the Amazon in terms of average inter-annual flow), the DRC nevertheless suffers from the low installed capacity (less than 3,000MW, half of which is unused due to lack of maintenance) and the absence of a nationwide integrated distribution network. Nevertheless, the Félix Tshisekedi-led country is not giving up. By 2021, the government had set itself the goal of

Source: The North Africa Journal June 29, 2023 14:53 UTC