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Andritz's refurbishment of the Mwadingusha hydroelectric power (HEP) plant in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s Katanga province shows the potential for mobilising anchor mining clients to deliver wider power supply in DRC’s under-performing electricity supply industry. In this case the backers were Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines and China’s Zijin Mining Group who own Africa’s largest copper plant, the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project joint venture in Lualaba province. 

Dubai-based Amea Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with Democratic Republic of Congo state utility Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) to develop a 100MW solar PV project.

There have been further developments in the government’s efforts to claw back advantageous conditions offered to Chinese investors under the $6bn infrastructure-for-minerals deal agreed with Beijing by ex-president Joseph Kabila Kabange.

The Tshisekedi government’s announcement that Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler’s Ventora Development would return control of its mining and oil assets to Democratic Republic of Congo puts assets back into play including the Albertine Graben blocks 1 and 2, managed by Gertler’s company Oil of DRCongo. But there are potential further complications from continued US sanctions against Gertler and over exactly what’s in the deal, writes François Misser.

Democratic Republic of Congo has the resources – if not yet the right governance framework – to help meet rising global demand for rare earth minerals. China has so far made much of the running with such resources, prompting economic and strategic concern in the US and Europe where DRC’s potential has not gone unnoticed, writes François Misser.

President Tshisekedi has laid the first stone of the Banana deep-sea harbour, an essential piece of infrastructure if the Grand Inga hydropower project is to move ahead.

Democratic Republic of Congo’s top cobalt producer is Glencore. The Swiss-based global trading company operates the Mutanda mine near Kolwezi though the Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) joint venture of its wholly-owned subsidiary Katanga Mining (75%), state-owned Gécamines (20%) and a smaller local company, Simco (5%). KCC produced 23,900t of the blue metal in 2020. 

Democratic Republic of Congo has aspirations to become the world leader in emerging battery technologies, but despite its mineral assets, clear political will and grandiose statements from potential donors, considerable challenges need to be addressed before the country can move beyond its traditional role as supplier of raw materials, writes François Misser with Jon Marks.

Republic of Congo (RoC) and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have agreed to move ahead with an ambitious ‘energy friendship loop’, which aims to connect the Eni-operated Centrale Electrique du Congo (CEC) gas-fired power plant in Pointe-Noire with the Inga hydroelectric dam and the two capitals of Kinshasa and Brazzaville.

The East African Community (EAC)’s Council of Ministers voted on 22 November to recommend Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s admission to the regional body at their 44th extraordinary meeting. Negotiations will follow before heads of state give their final approval to make DRC the bloc’s seventh member.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has launched its Scaling Mini-Grids (SMG) programme with a project the World Bank Group (WBG) affiliate says will give 1.5m Congolese, and critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals, access to energy.

President Félix Tshisekedi’s efforts to revive Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s attraction to international oil companies (IOCs) are admirable on paper, as are his efforts to revive – and bring improved governance to – the crucial energy and mining sectors. Having broken with his alliance of convenience with ex-president Joseph Kabila, Tshisekedi’s government is looking for takers for blocks 1 and 2 in the Albertine Graben, and there is talk of a new licensing round, with plans to tender for 16 oil and three gas blocks in the onshore Atlantic basin, Cuvette Centrale and the western Rift Valley.

President Tshisekedi is seeking to make waves in upstream oil policy, just as he has in the power and mining sectors since breaking away from his alliance with Joseph Kabila. With the Kabila legacy in question over the controversial Albertine Graben fields, more legal disputes could beckon, but the government sees considerable investment upside, despite the outlook for hydrocarbons looking very different from a decade ago, writes François Misser

President Félix Tshisekedi’s promotion of potentially radical change has accelerated since the appointment in April of Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge, and the end of his alliance of convenience with the pro-Kabila Front Commun pour le Congo coalition (AE 433/23).

The 14.6MW Lubero hydroelectric power (HEP) plant is operating at full capacity and is expected to start commercial operations on 1 November, Virunga Foundation has told African Energy.