What is the electricity access rate in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

The public version of the resulting report of the effort is available here. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s national electric-ity access rate is estimated at 19%. Less than 1% of the rural population and 41% of the urban population has energy access. Of the country’s 10 million house-holds, only 1.6 million have have access to electricity.

How will the DRC meet the ELEC-Tricity challenge?

The DRC aims to connect 32% of the country to elec-tricity by 2030. Meeting this challenge will require co-ordinated efforts from various stakeholders, support-ive policies and regulations, and technical assistance support to prospective projects in order to attract in-vestments.

Is there an interconnected national power transmission network in the DRC?

There is no interconnected national power transmis-sion network in the DRC, which is instead structured into three independent interprovincial grids. The western and southern grids are connected by a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) line. The eastern grid is more remote and will not be be connected.

How much e-waste does the DRC produce?

The DRC is expected to produce 16,050 tons of elec-trical and electronic waste, according to a study car-ried out by the Belgian group, Groupe One. There are currently no regulations or legislative frameworks concerning e-waste.

How has DRC benefited from a grant-making and concessional financing scheme?

DRC has benefited from several grant-making and concessional financing schemes that have helped to unlock private capital for the off-grid solar sector. In 2021, the Swedish investment platform (Trine) en-tered a partnership with Altech, a leading company in the distribution sustainable energy products and ser-vices18.

What causes energy poverty in the DRC?

Energy poverty is at-tributed to factors such as cost tariffs, poor utility per-formance and lack of financial viability, compounded by governance issues. There is no interconnected national power transmis-sion network in the DRC, which is instead structured into three independent interprovincial grids.