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DEVELOPMENT
Any reflection on Africa’s future must include Inga Hydroelectric Dam
At the beginning of June 2003, in the presence of Presidents Thabo Mbeki (South Africa), Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal), Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), Abdellaziz Bouteflika (Algeria) and Hosni Moubarak (Egypt), the world’s eight most industrialized countries (G-8) renewed their support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The meeting took place in Evian, France. Because of its exceptional possibilities for producing electricity for both home consumption and abroad via Katanga, the Inga Dam in Congo RDC, is all-important for NEPAD‘s future success.
Congo RDC is well-known for its fabulous mining riches, for its top singers, for its war atrocities. But we don’t often hear that the country has the largest hydroelectric power station in Africa, which could provide a solution to the continent’s underdevelopment problems. Inga is 150 km from the mouth of the Congo River, in the province of Bas-Congo, not far from Kinshasa. Congo RDC‘s energy potentialities are estimated at approximately 100,000 MW (megawatts). According to World Bank estimates, nearly 44% of these resources are concentrated at the Inga Dam.
NEPAD’s priorities
NEPAD listed ten priorities on which Africa’s efforts for development, backed up by the West, should be totally concentrated. (The Inga Dam and benefits accruing are included here). Let’s take a look at some of the priorities. NEPAD‘s ninth priority states that developing and conserving natural resources forms an integral part of development. Within this scope, African countries foresee the construction of pipelines and gas pipelines permitting the production of electricity in countries which aren’t able to produce their own. Hence, the importance of the Inga Dam.
NEPAD‘s ten priorities also include investment in countries’ infrastructures and information and communication technologies. Roads, railways, airports are going to cost a great deal but these will generate economic undertakings. And, says NEPAD, it is extremely important that from early childhood, all Africans must be able to enjoy the benefits of information technology IT. IT must also be extended to every activity: Agriculture, industry, transport, education, the service industry and trade. But to carry out these priorities, electricity is needed. At the end of the 19th century, Henry Morton Stanley said: «Without a railway, Congo is worthless». The Anglo-American explorer’s remarks could be paraphrased within NEPAD‘s priorities: «Without the Inga Hydroelectric Power Station, NEPAD is bound to fail».
Achievements
The late President Mobutu didn’t wait for NEPAD in order to supply a number of African countries with el-ectricity from Inga, so they could develop their own infrastructures and industries. The environment was also being threatened by deforestation because people were cutting down too many trees for fuel. Inga’s electricity provided a solution. Thanks to Western co-operation, Inga I Hydroelectric Power Station (351 MW) began generating in 1972; and Inga II (1,424 MW) in 1982.
A paralysed Katanganese politician living in Lubumbashi who had been tortured in Bas-Congo’s prisons during Mobutu’s regime, makes the following observation about the Inga Project: «I can’t say much good about the dictator, Mobutu, who caused many wrongs to this country. But for having carried out this gigantic Inga Project, I’ve nothing but praise for him. He must have had an eagle’s eye for such an undertaking». And in July 2003, a data processing specialist in Chingola, Zambia, stated: «We’re deporting Congolese illegal immigrants like dogs. But we forget that without Inga’s electricity, our economy, which depends mainly on mining and agriculture, would be in a bad way».
Katanga is Congo RDC‘s most industrialized region and is more than 2,000 km from Inga. Between 1972 and 1985, a series of pylons carried Bas-Congo’s electricity to Katanga. On the basis of a long-standing cooperation agreement, renewed in 1992 and 1997, Congo RDC‘s National Electricity Company (SNEL), exports Inga’s electricity by a further series of pylons to Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. This so-called «Eastern corridor» stretches approximately 2,000 km, starting from Katanga to South Africa. The electricity passes by means of high-tension lines from the mining city of Kolwezi, via Karavia (Lubumbashi), Luano (northern Zambia), Kariba (southern Zambia), Insukamini (southern Zimbabwe) and Phokoje (Botswana). It then arrives in South Africa via the Matimba sub-station.
Nevers Bwalya is an engineer from Zambia. In May 2003 he was in Kasenga, Katanga, on official business. In a Press statement he said: «The 220 Kilovolts (Kv) we import from Congo RDC are mainly used in our country in mining operations and to develop irrigation projects for agriculture. Thanks to Inga, we never have power shutdowns». He also stated that a feasibility study supervised by SNEL (Congo RDC), ZESCO (Zambia) and ESKOM (South Africa), had been submitted in September 1996 to the South African Power Pool (SAPP)’s executive committee in Kinshasa, for the construction of a new 220 Kv power line between Karavia and Luano, as well as a second 330 Kv power line. But the war delayed all these projects which should double the energy capacity in Zambia and South Africa. According to the 16 June 2002 issue of Business Day, published in Johannesburg, the South African company, ESKOM, will inter-connect Inga’s current with Tanzania’s, Malawi’s and Kenya’s national electricity grids.
Projects
Congo RDC is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Since 1995, the SADC has established the SAPP to accelerate energy co-operation in Southern Africa. SAPP members are: SNEL, ZESCO, ESKOM, ENE (Angola), ZESA (Zimbabwe), BPC (Botswana), EDM (Mozambique) etc.
According to Engineer Bwalya, because financial backers including the World Bank took into account the Inga Dam’s hydroelectric potential in Africa’s development, they acceded to the request to finance Inga’s next stage, Inga III (between 1,700 and 3,500 MW) and the «Great Inga Final Stage» (39,000 MW). The project’s realization will enable Inga’s electricity to be carried towards northern Angola, Namibia, Congo-Brazzaville and Nigeria. From Nigeria, all West Africa will be connected to Inga’s electricity. An even more ambitious project is to make Inga’s electricity available in Egypt (5,300 km distance), via the Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan. From Egypt, the current can be sent to Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
The project to provide Inga’s electricity to North Africa, is being piloted by the World Bank, the EDF Group (France), and Lahmeyer(Germany). But how much will it cost? A senior SNEL official says that to complete the North African project by 2010, will cost 6,763 million dollars, and the construction of the Great Inga Final Stage, 4,025 million dollars. The construction of the southern axis (Southern Africa) will cost 560 million dollars.
Rwanda and Burundi have not been sidelinded, either. Engineer Alex Ngoy is convinced that the completed Inga Project will be a factor for peace in Africa: «Since 1970, Burundi and Rwanda have been importing electricity from Ruzizi power station in Kivu. Thanks to Inga’s electricity, all Africa will respect Congo RDC‘s sovereignty, so as to ensure the continent’s continued development within the NEPAD concept».
- Beth. Kasamwa-Tuseko, Congo RDC, September 2003 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment