DRC, SA Energy Ministers meet to finalise Grand Inga treaty

6th March 2013 By: Terence Creamer - Creamer Media Editor

South Africa’s Energy Minister Dipuo Peters and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) Hydro Resources and Electricity Minister Bruno Kapanji Kalala will meet in Lubumbashi on Thursday and Friday with the intention of finalising the text of the proposed Grand Inga Project Treaty.

The treaty is expected to cover the governance of the project, financial issues, and the rights and obligations of the partners.

South Africa drew up a draft treaty and submitted it to the DRC in August last year, after having first secured Cabinet approval.

A subsequent meeting of DRC and South African officials was held in South Africa in October, which was followed up by a bilateral between Kalala and Peters in February.

After that meeting, the two Ministers instructed their respective negotiating teams to convene a meeting in Lubumbashi from February 28 to March 6 to finalise the text.

On March 7 and 8, the Ministers will again meet to iron out outstanding differences, before submitting the text to their respective governments.

A workshop would also be held to deliberate on the feasibility study for the project, which is considered to have significant potential to supply power not only to the DRC, but also to a number of other countries, including South Africa.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU), which opened the way for the treaty, was signed between the DRC and South Africa on November 12, 2011.

In developing the MoU, the Department of Energy (DoE) consulted with the departments of International Relations and Coordination, Trade and Industry, National Treasury, Economic Development, and Public Enterprise, including Eskom.