Editorial: Katende dam: The right set-up at last!

Since the Mobutu years, many Congolese have been waiting for the Katende dam to be built in the province of Kasai Central. To no avail. Under the Kabilas, father and son, the same hopes were never crowned with success, despite the multiple financial packages put in place, sometimes by South Africa, sometimes by the African Development Bank (ADB), sometimes by Indian consortiums. The project has always stalled, until it has taken on the appearance of the famous Lochness monster. Everyone talks about it, but no one has ever seen it. The Indian funding, which is subject to extreme conditions, has never been made available. We know that political and even party-political maneuvering went on all along the way. Much to the chagrin of the people living in this part of the country. Once dynamic, they have gradually sunk into abandonment by the elites and disinterest by investors, due to the lack of electricity. But no matter how long the night, daylight always comes. On the initiative of the government of the Republic, four commercial banks operating in DR Congo agreed to the deal, to the tune of 50 million dollars each. A total of $200 million is needed to build a 64-megawatt dam. The main bottleneck to the deployment of the investment expected in the Greater Kasai region has thus been overcome. Several studies suggest that less than 10 megawatts will initially be needed for Kananga and the surrounding area. But more will undoubtedly be needed to cope with the many development projects in the Greater Kasai region at a time when the DRC-USA ‘mines for infrastructure and security’ deal is taking shape. A domino effect is also expected in Greater Katanga, where there are plans to export the power differential from the 64-megawatt Katende dam. The promises and commitment of one man, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, have undeniably given rise to hope.ACP/