The World Bank announced last week that it will spend an initial 250m to help lay the groundwork for the enormous Inga 3 hydropower scheme in DR Congo, as part of a planned 1bn investment to help get the long-delayed project up and running.
Albert Zeufack, the World Bank's division director for DR Congo, told African Business that building the dam will help address the country's "dramatic" lack of electricity access. At present, just 21 of the Congolese population has an electricity connection, meaning more than 80 million people in the country live without power.
Inga is already home to two hydropower projects, completed in the 1970s and 80s, and could emerge as the African continent's most important energy hub. In theory, up to 42 GW more than ten times DR Congo's current power capacity could be harnessed from the mighty Congo River at the site of the Inga Rapids. Of this, the World Bank believes 3-11 GW could be tapped in the next phase of the scheme, known as Inga 3. On paper, this power promises to dramatically extend electricity access across DR Congo, provide power to the critical minerals industry, and even allow DR Congo to export green electrons to its neighbours.
The need for more power is obvious. But, like all large hydropower projects, building Inga 3 will come at a considerable environmental and social cost.
"We're concerned, of course, about the impacts on the fish and the endangerment of biodiversity within that basin as a whole," says Siziwe Mota, Africa program director at campaign group International Rivers.