Donors of the construction project for the Ruzizi III hydroelectric power station have mobilized 400 million euros, of which 20% by the African Development Bank since 2015. Of this total amount, European donors including AFD, the EIB, the KFW and the EU are involved at 50%, nearly 200 million euros. For the European Union, this contribution demonstrates its commitment to the sustainable economic development of the Great Lakes region including Burundi, Rwanda and the Congo.

After the signing phase of agreements made effective July 29, 2019 in Kinshasa, the laying of the first building stone of the hydroelectric plant is scheduled for 2021. And the work will be completed five years later, in 2026. To achieve this, stakeholders will need to work to address three types of challenges.

Accelerate the implementation of agreements

Important activities are to be carried out in the best possible conditions. These include the establishment of the project company, the completion of complementary geological and geotechnical studies, the updating of environmental and social impact studies as well as the detailed pre-project studies that will determine the location of the project. final site of the plant.

There is also the instruction and approval of different project financing. In this regard, donors, including the EU, who reaffirm their unwavering support, expect the availability of the revised studies to organize a joint on-site mission to conduct the training.

Make Ruzizi 3 a development tool

The challenge is to enable Ruzizi to play its role in the development of the sub-region, the management of the electricity interconnection and the permanent supply of electricity from renewable sources.

This issue has the following implications: the establishment of a regional energy market, the coordinated management and if possible the integration of the electricity grids but also the strengthening of the activities of the Lake Kivu Basin Authority and the river Ruzizi (ABAKIR) responsible for the integrated management of Ruzizi’s water resources, the establishment of excess electricity storage capacity that could notably come from photovoltaic solar power plants.

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Affordable electricity access

The electricity that will be produced will enable the actors of the region to boost their economic activities, a source of development and investment, for the benefit of local populations. Hence, the need to guarantee access at an affordable price.

The acceleration of socio-economic development, stability, peace and the integration of regional cooperation are the objectives pursued by the three States.

« This project has some noble assets: the regional character of the project, its great socio-economic impact, its undeniable determination to consolidate peace, the strengthening of cooperation in the region and the fight against deforestation, the commitment States, its role in the reduction of the energy deficit in the region, « said the Congolese Minister of State, Pierre Kangudia Mbayi, assuming the interim of the Minister of Energy.

Eric TSHIKUMA