DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
POWER AFRICA FACT SHEET

Power Africa has supported the development of electricity generation projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In addition, various firms have received U.S. Embassy support to move transactions forward. The page below gives an overview of the energy sector in the DRC and explains Power Africa's involvement in the country.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO ENERGY SECTOR OVERVIEW


Population: 84.07 million | GDP (1): $47.23 billion

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the 11th largest country in the world, with a land mass equal to that of the United States east of the Mississippi. The population is nearly 85 million, with over 12 million people living in the capital city, Kinshasa. The DRC is endowed with large mineral resources and has the potential to install up to 100,000 MW of hydropower capacity. Issues with the utility, independent regulatory body, off-grid framework, high taxes, VAT and import duties all contribute to DRC’s low access rate.

GENERATION CAPACITY

  • Installed Capacity (2): 2,844 MW
    • Hydro: 2,792 MW
    • Gas: 2.2 MW
    • Solar: 1 MW
    • Other: 48.8 MW

Power Africa new MW to date at finacial close: 0

CONNECTIONS

  • Current Access Rate (3): 9%
    • Urban: 19%
    • Rural: <5%

Power Africa new connections: 383,390

 

 

POWER AFRICA SUCCESS STORIES IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPLUBLIC OF THE CONGO


Leaving No One Behind: DRC’s Rural Electrification Agency Commits to Gender Equality

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Workshop participants at ANSER’s headquarters in Kinshasa
Workshop participants at ANSER’s headquarters in Kinshasa, October 2022
ANSER

 

The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tasked its National Rural and Peri-urban Electrification and Energy Services Agency (ANSER) to meet the ambitious goal of connecting an additional 15 million people to electricity by 2025.

Power Africa assistance, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), helped ANSER develop a gender strategy to deliver equal benefits of electrification for the women and men of these communities. USAID’s Power Africa Off-grid Project collaborated with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) to carry out this work.

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Turning lights on in remote DRC: How Power Africa and PAYGO financing are changing lives in underserved communities

In 2020, Power Africa awarded Bboxx with a grant to introduce pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) solar energy solutions to DRC’s Ituri and North Kivu provinces. The Power Africa investment enabled Bboxx to open three new retail outlets in the area, train approximately 100 technicians and sales agents, and sell more than 3,000 solar home system (SHS) kits. Through these efforts, nearly 15,000 people now have first-time reliable and affordable electricity access.

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Sources

  1. https://data.worldbank.org/country/congo-dem-rep 
  2. https://www.africa-energy.com/database/datatool
  3. https://www.iea.org/reports/sdg7-data-and-projections/access-to-electricity