{"id":1664,"date":"2016-10-05T12:06:34","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T11:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/africa\/?p=1664"},"modified":"2016-10-26T15:02:02","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T14:02:02","slug":"agenda-2063-vi-lighting-africa-with-hydroelectric-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/africa\/2016\/10\/05\/agenda-2063-vi-lighting-africa-with-hydroelectric-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Agenda 2063 (VI): Lighting Africa with Hydroelectric Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flying over Africa during the day is just spectacular.\u00a0If you fly from East to North Africa, watching the Nile River is absolutely impressive\u00a0<\/strong>(6,853 Km. long!). Unfortunately,\u00a0I haven\u2019t had an opportunity to see the Congo River<\/strong>. I hope to see this one at a close distance and not from the sky: its flow of\u00a042,000m3<\/sup>\/s<\/strong>\u00a0is second only to the Amazon<\/strong>. Can you imagine its power? \u2026And its potential as a source of\u00a0hydroelectric power?<\/strong>\u00a0No wonder this is part of Africa\u2019s\u00a0Agenda 2063<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"Hydroelectric
Lake in Kenya: hydropower may contribute to the positive transformation of Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Grand Inga<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0dam mega-project is intended to turn that potential into reality:\u00a0the goal is to generate 40,000 megawatts (MW)<\/strong>\u00a0at the end of the project\u2019s seven phases.\u00a0Enough to light up half of Africa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To give you an idea of the\u00a0power deficit<\/strong>, these are the countries with the greatest shortfalls (source:\u00a0ISI Consultants<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Africa<\/p>\n

The first two phases of the project were completed more than 30 years ago<\/strong>. With total potential generation capacity of 2,132 MW, in 2013 they were operating at 40% of capacity,\u00a0according to Peter Fabricius<\/a>\u00a0from the Institute of Secutiry Studies.\u00a0In 2014, the World Bank and the African Development Bank committed US$ 106 million (73 and 33) to get Inga 3 started. This would add 4,800 MW of generation capacity.<\/p>\n

Critics of the\u00a0project<\/a>\u00a0claim that very little of the electricity generated will go to the local communities<\/strong>, and the\u00a0environmental cost<\/strong>\u00a0can be substantial. Not to talk about the potential for corruption around the tendering process.<\/p>\n

Construction was planned to start in 2016. But\u00a0the World Bank suspended project financing last summer<\/strong>\u00a0putting the project as risk as other potential financers are likely to flee. The\u00a0reasons<\/a>? Concerns that environmental and social standards would be overlooked.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an\u00a0urgent need to bring power to the citizens<\/strong>, and to make the infrastructure reliable for companies. But the signal that the World Bank is sending to politicians goes in the right direction. If the 2063 Agenda is to bring a positive transformation to Africa,\u00a0environmental and social impacts need to be taken into account when implementing its projects<\/strong>. Do you agree?<\/p>\n

\n

Related posts<\/p>\n