Independent public affairs consultant Dr John Maré is confident that the Inga III hydroelectric project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), will go ahead as planned, in spite of power utility Eskom withdrawing from the project and recent reports by Western Power Corridor (Westcor) CEO Dr Pat Naidoo that the project would probably stagnate, now that the DRC government has decided to develop it on its own.

The initial plan is that the Inga III project will supply electricity to South Africa, Botswana, Angola and Namibia, and will be rolled out and managed by Westcor, an entity the shareholders of which include power util-ities from the participating countries.

Wescor was established in 2003 as national power producers from the DRC, South Africa, Angola, Botswana and Namibia decided to cooperate to develop renewable-energy options for the Southern African Development Community region.

Maré adds that he would understand if Eskom pulled away from Inga because of funding problems, but questions the element of political risk in the DRC.

“I do not think there is a major problem related to general instability or political risk in the DRC that should threaten the Inga project or the Bas-Congo region, where Inga is situated. 
“There is instability in the north-east of the DRC, but even that has quietened down in the last six month. 
“The DRC’s Katanga prov-ince is booming economically because of mining. I do know, however, that there is a lot of red tape, as is the case in most African countries,” Maré tells Engineering News.

He points out that he recently had a conversation with the DRC’s ambassador to South Africa, Bene M’Poko, who assured him that the DRC was forging ahead with plans to make the area around Kinshasa and Bas-Congo an African hub.

The Bas-Congo region stretches along the Congo river from Kinshasa and Brazzaville to the coast and its offshore oil- and gasfields.

Maré states that Inga will be one of the key projects in Bas-Congo and continues to believe that various industries could be set up in Bas-Congo.

The Inga project was initi-ally identified as the most sig-nificant hydropower project in Africa.

The existing Inga I and Inga II hydropower projects are currently being revamped by various consortia.

“I know that both the South 
African government and the 
DRC government are com-mitted to the project and want the project to go ahead, but it has to be done as part of the overall development of Bas-Congo and its regional setting. Many people are of the view that the Westcor project should have been constructed differently to bring greater benefits to the DRC and other [countries] around it and in support of region integration in the central African economy,” affirms Maré.