Kinshasa, June 25th, 2025 (CPA). – The development of dam projects and energy transition in Africa has been discussed on Wednesday, at the launching of the first edition of the continental forum organised by the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for Monitoring Reforms and Public Action (CORAP) in Kinshasa (capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo). ‘We want to mobilise the stakeholders to work together to achieve a just energy transition in Africa, thereby limiting the development of large dam projects with irreversible impacts on the environment, the economy and the social fabric of local communities,’ has declared Emmanuel Musuyu, Executive Secretary of Corap/DRC. He has explained that the objective of this forum, which runs from June 25th to 27th, is to mobilise civil society actors and local communities affected by large hydroelectric dams in Africa to defend their rights and pave the way for the construction of a continental movement to defend the rights of local communities affected by dams. This movement, he has said, will also need to organise itself in order to participate effectively in the 4th International Meeting of Communities Affected by Dams, Climate Crisis, Social and Environmental Crimes and the Privatisation of Water and Energy, to be held next November in Belem do Para, in the Brazilian Amazon. During this event, the participants will share and learn from the different experiences of each community affected or likely to be affected by mega-dams or other large-scale energy projects in Africa. They will denounce through this forum, the failure of governments and transnational corporations to take into account the rights and interests of local communities likely to be affected by large dams in Africa, particularly in DRC. ‘We want to contribute to promote and revitalise the cultural and customary values of communities as a lever to combat the threats posed by large-scale investments by transnational corporations in Africa, develop specific recommendations and strategies for communities affected by dams in Africa, and develop and adopt a collective African position on mega-dams and the climate crisis,’ has said Emmanuel Musuyu.
Impacts of the climate crisis in Africa discussed
The participants at the forum
Furthermore, Ambassador Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, Senior Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic in charge of the environment has, for his part, indicated that the African continent contributes the least to climate change but at the same time suffers the impacts of the climate crisis on the front line. ‘It is important to discuss this crisis, starting with a good understanding of the links between colonialism and energy and extractivist models that present themselves as false climate solutions, thus impacting biodiversity and causing deforestation and degradation of agricultural land,’ he has added. According to him, this forum also provides an opportunity to discuss strategies for organising and mobilising communities that are resisting and confronting the drivers of this crisis. This forum will be attended by international actors from South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Guinea Conakry, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Togo, Cameroon, Brazil, Ivory Coast and Senegal. The African Continental Forum on the Mega-Dams and the Climate Crisis also aims to bring together at least one hundred (100) representatives of local African communities and representatives of NGOs from different countries. For DRC, the representatives of local communities in Inga, Luozi, Songololo, Busanga, local communities around the Sombwe and Ruzizi dams, and NGOs from Boma, Matadi and Kinshasa are taking part in this activity. ACP/