The backbone of community development, infrastructure is one of the major community commitments of Tenke Fungurume Mining, a subsidiary of China Molybdenum, CMOC in short. The company aims to raise the standard of living of the populations living in its concession. This objective requires the consideration in symbiosis of several infrastructural fronts touching several basic sectors of the life of the communities. These are in particular the areas of roads, electricity supply, health and access to water, education, agriculture, etc.

The electrification of Fungurume, now a reality

It took almost two years, and the book is ready for delivery. The electrification project of the commune of Fungurume, carried out by the community social fund of TFM, was one of the major concerns of the community. This achievement aims to boost the socio-economic development of the commune of Fungurume and its surroundings, in particular, and of the concession, in general.

And there was light…

Like a colony of twinkling fireflies, crossed by a meandering river of bright light. This is the aspect of the commune of Fungurume at night. Indeed, street lamps are installed on about 15 km of roads in the town. Access to electric current is facilitated by bringing the tapping points together, reports Alexis Seya, TFM engineer, providing the interface with SNEL. For this, he specifies, more than 21 km of medium voltage network line have been deployed in the town.

This project is an investment of nearly 7.5 million US dollars, says Alexis Seya. It includes, on the one hand, the installation at Fungurume of a new 10 mva substation and, on the other hand, the sanitation of the SNEL distribution network.

The new substation develops a capacity 3 times greater than that of the initial network, which was limited to 3 mva. New wine is put into new wineskins! It was also necessary to clean up the distribution network. From there, a new medium voltage line was built and nine new MT / LV (medium voltage / low voltage) transformers of 500 kva were assembled and put in line with the five old transformers of 250 kva, which will have already served several decades.

The new transformers, explains Mr. Seya, develop a capacity far greater than that which Fungurume can consume, enough to offer the municipality an irreproachable quality of current, without load shedding, and to cover future needs due to the rapid extension of the electricity supply. common.

This acquisition will raise and stimulate SMEs from all sectors in the town and, therefore, boost the local economy, said a resident of Fungurume. The youth unemployment rate will also be positively affected.

What do the people think?

Community reactions abound about the electrification project. “We are convinced that TFM is there for the well-being of the community. Previously we had unstable, irregular and poor quality current with a lot of load shedding. For the moment, everything is fine, ”said another inhabitant of Fungurume, showing satisfaction for this electrification and public lighting project in the town, whose operation and maintenance management are entirely up to SNEL.

This project has many advantages, including the circulation of money due to the emergence of activities in various economic sectors, said Mr. Cisco, a resident of Fungurume. Showing his gratitude to the Social Fund and to TFM for the electrification project, he also calls on the population to take ownership of the project to make it sustainable.

During his interview with the Fungurume press, Pasteur Kabamba, member of the Community Social Fund’s Stakeholder Forum, also spoke of TFM’s intervention in the community: “I urge the population to appropriate the works provided by TFM. and manage them responsibly. “

Almost summing up the interventions of the other inhabitants of the commune on the question of electrification, the SNEL manager at Lubudi level, Mr. Kitwa, for his part, urged the community to “protect the electrical installations so as to keep their integrity ”. Also, he calls on it to “use low consumption lamps …”

Fungurume and Tenke opened up

Previously in a degraded condition for not having been renovated for several decades, the Kasolondo road is coated with a whole new dress, impeccable asphalt paving and street lights. 2.3 km long, the main road artery of the town of Fungurume, Kasolondo opens up the town. It is a factor in improving road safety and economic emergence: it facilitates exchanges of different kinds between neighborhoods and cells of the municipality that it links to each other.

Madam Angel Kaj, resident of Fungurume, decidedly moved, expresses herself in this term: “The development of a city passes by the construction of roads and the provision of electrical energy. We thank the TFM company for actions with visible impact. Our visitors will be impressed when they pass here ”.

Further on, Tenke saw its access road, 6 km long, rebuilt. Discussions are underway to lay a layer of asphalt on this dirt road. In addition, an internal road artery of Tenke, 5 km long, is in the middle of the paving phase. These infrastructures will ultimately be able to open up the conurbation of Tenke, by connecting its various districts, while optimizing the level of road safety.

In addition to the roads, the agglomeration of Tenke will also be provided with a reliable electricity network. Feasibility studies are in progress, and the project will be effective in the very near future.

With the specifications, roads are planned at various locations in the concession. The commune of Fungurume, for example, will have more than 7 km of paved roads, and Tenke more than 8 km of stabilized roads. As for the agricultural feeder roads, more than 100 km will be built, in order to make the evacuation of agricultural products easier and, in the long term, to make agricultural activity viable.

Plural action

Combining business with pleasure, according to the philosophy of its parent company CMOC, TFM does not skimp on resources. The company invests in a range of projects to ensure holistic action in favor of communities. Thus, alongside roads and electrical energy supply, sectors such as education, health, access to drinking water and agriculture are not left out.

More than 20 schools, around ten health posts and centers have been built according to a geographical distribution allowing fair access to the entire population of the concession. Hundreds of drinking water wells drilled in villages and a complex water supply network in Tenke and Fungurume. This network produced over 230,000 m ³ of water in the first half of 2021 .

And to guarantee the sustainability of its actions for the development of neighboring communities, the company aims at empowerment and community ownership coupled with raising the standard of living of the populations.

TFM, an investment in the future of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.