Faith Nyasuguta
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has secured a massive $1 billion pledge from the World Bank to breathe life into one of the world’s most ambitious energy projects- the Grand Inga hydropower complex. Once complete, it could become the largest hydropower facility on the planet.
Of the total pledged amount, $250 million will go toward kickstarting the long-delayed Inga III phase of the project. This marks the next step in a decades-long vision that began with Inga I in 1972 (351 megawatts) and continued with Inga II in the 1980s (1,424 megawatts). Together, the earlier stages barely scratched the surface of the river’s vast potential.
The Congo River, which ranks as the world’s third-largest by volume, could ultimately generate an astounding 40,000 megawatts of electricity. To put that in perspective, that’s nearly double the capacity of China’s iconic Three Gorges Dam, currently the world’s largest hydroelectric power station.
Yet progress has been repeatedly hampered by years of civil conflict, corruption scandals, and soaring costs. Now, with the backing of the World Bank and global investors, Inga III is finally being revived as a beacon of hope for Africa’s energy future.
Inga III falls under the World Bank’s Mission 300 initiative, a program that aims to bring electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030. World Bank President Ajay Banga said the larger initiative could attract up to $85 billion in private capital, dramatically transforming energy access across the continent.
The first $250 million will fund critical technical studies, support economic reforms, strengthen the state-owned electricity firm, and help attract developers to the Congo River site. The entire Inga III project is expected to cost around $10 billion and, once completed, could generate 11,000 megawatts of electricity- more than three times Congo’s current national output.
This investment couldn’t come at a better time. Despite abundant natural resources, only about 20% of Congo’s 100 million people have access to electricity. That stark figure prompted the government to unveil a $36 billion power development blueprint at a Mission 300 conference in Dar es Salaam earlier this year. The goal is to triple electricity access by 2030.
If successfully completed, Grand Inga could power much of central and southern Africa, drive industrial growth, reduce carbon emissions, and uplift millions of lives, placing Congo at the heart of the continent’s energy revolution.
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