Political will’ needed to kick-start Inga 3 construction, per AfDB president
African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has called for a major political commitment to kick-start construction work on Democratic Republic of Congo’s Inga 3 dam and hydro plant, which has the potential to meet the power needs of more than a dozen countries in central and southern Africa.
“We have been talking about Inga 3 for many years… What we need is political coordination,” Adesina told members of the board of directors of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), led by its Chairman Ebrahim Rasool, during a recent meeting at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan.
Recalling that South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa raised the issue at last year’s Paris Summit on a New Global Financing Pact, Adesina declared that the huge potential output from Inga 3 could solve South Africa’s perennial energy shortage, which has badly affected the country’s economic performance. Ramaphosa told global leaders, “To prove that these summits are not summits where we just talk, let us now put money on the table and collectively say we are going to address this mega project which will generate electricity for up to 12 to 15 countries. This is a project that multilateral development banks working together can fund.”
In July 2017, Hydro Review reported that the Democratic Republic of Congo announced it expected the date for the US$14 billion 4,800-MW Inga 3 Basse Chute hydropower project, originally planned to begin generation in 2020 or 2021, would be delayed until 2024 or 2025, according to Kenya-based Group Africa Publishing Ltd
Inga 3 is one component of DRC’s massive eight-component Grand Inga hydroelectric complex which, if completed could have a cumulative output capacity of 44,000 MW.
The bank is already financing the 1,500 MW Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric project in Mozambique, which is set to help in overcoming crippling electricity shortages in South Africa, which have led to several hours of power cuts every day for the last few years and driven local businesses to despair.
“While South Africa is Africa’s largest industrialized economy, it continues to face challenges in its energy sector, causing a drop in its industrial output, contracting of the GDP and job creation, and this is also having an impact on the region,” said Adesina. He added the bank would continue to work with DBSA, other development partners and the government of South Africa to tackle the country’s energy challenges including its transition from coal to clean energy.
African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has called for a major political commitment to kick-start construction work on Democratic Republic of Congo’s Inga 3 dam and hydro plant, which has the potential to meet the power needs of more than a dozen countries in central and southern Africa.
“We have been talking about Inga 3 for many years… What we need is political coordination,” Adesina told members of the board of directors of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), led by its Chairman Ebrahim Rasool, during a recent meeting at the bank’s headquarters in Abidjan.
Recalling that South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa raised the issue at last year’s Paris Summit on a New Global Financing Pact, Adesina declared that the huge potential output from Inga 3 could solve South Africa’s perennial energy shortage, which has badly affected the country’s economic performance. Ramaphosa told global leaders, “To prove that these summits are not summits where we just talk, let us now put money on the table and collectively say we are going to address this mega project which will generate electricity for up to 12 to 15 countries. This is a project that multilateral development banks working together can fund.”
In July 2017, Hydro Review reported that the Democratic Republic of Congo announced it expected the date for the US$14 billion 4,800-MW Inga 3 Basse Chute hydropower project, originally planned to begin generation in 2020 or 2021, would be delayed until 2024 or 2025, according to Kenya-based Group Africa Publishing Ltd
Inga 3 is one component of DRC’s massive eight-component Grand Inga hydroelectric complex which, if completed could have a cumulative output capacity of 44,000 MW.
The bank is already financing the 1,500 MW Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric project in Mozambique, which is set to help in overcoming crippling electricity shortages in South Africa, which have led to several hours of power cuts every day for the last few years and driven local businesses to despair.
“While South Africa is Africa’s largest industrialized economy, it continues to face challenges in its energy sector, causing a drop in its industrial output, contracting of the GDP and job creation, and this is also having an impact on the region,” said Adesina. He added the bank would continue to work with DBSA, other development partners and the government of South Africa to tackle the country’s energy challenges including its transition from coal to clean energy.
