DR Congo: AfDB approves grant for electrification

The African Development Bank on 7 July announced that it had approved an $11m grant to improve access to electricity in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, where only between 4% and 7% of people are believed to have access to electricity. The grant is part of the wider Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (Nelsap), covering Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Work in DRC will include construction of a 95km, 220kV transmission line connecting Goma to Bukavu and the Buandahanda substation as well as a 13km, 220kV line from Goma to Gisenyi and the Goma substation.