Inga 3 hydropower project

The World Bank has approved $250 million in financing for the Inga 3 hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Purpose and Controversy:

• Stated Goal: Address DRC’s electricity deficit — currently, only ~20% of the population has access to power.
• Criticism:
  • Project likely to benefit industrial users and foreign offtakers rather than local communities.
  • Raised concerns by civil society and human rights organisations, e.g., International Rivers, over governance and social equity.

About the Congo River

• Location: West-central Africa.
• Length: ~2,900 miles (4,700 km) – Africa’s second-longest river after the Nile.
• Source:
  Originates as the Chambeshi River in northeastern Zambia between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa (Malawi).
• Course:
  Follows a giant counterclockwise arc — flows northwest, west, then southwest.
• Mouth: Drains into the Atlantic Ocean at Banana (Banane) in DRC.
• Drainage Basin Area: ~1,335,000 square miles, covering:
  • Most of Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Parts of Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Zambia, Angola, Cameroon, and Tanzania