Minister Eustache Muhanzi on a mission to assess the Busanga dam in Lualaba | DRC
The Minister of Hydraulic Resources and Electricity, Eustache Muhanzi Mubenmbe, carries out, from September 1 to September 7, 2020, an official mission in the provinces of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba to assess the construction works of the hydroelectric dam of Busanga but also the progress of rehabilitation works at the Koni and Sombwe power plants.
At the Busanga stage, the Minister of Hydraulic Resources was accompanied by the governor of Lualaba, Richard Muyej, as well as a strong delegation from the National Electricity Company (SNEL).
” We are very happy. We came to Busanga with a strong delegation. We thank the governor for agreeing to accompany us here to Busanga. Beyond the governor, we have the director general of SNEL with his delegation. We have the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Electricity Regulatory Authority. We also have the chairman of the board of directors of the Rural Electrification Agency. This shows that the Busanga project is an important project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for both the central government and the provincial government of Lualaba. The idea of this project was born from the vision of the President of the Republic Joseph Kabila, in his time. When he thought of the partnership with Chinese companies. What created SICOMINES.SICOMINES needed the energy. This is today, something that will be done in the next 15 or 18 months, as you said. There is no development without energy. I had the opportunity to feel the grandiose work that you are doing. I encourage. Congratulations. We have experienced all the reports that we receive on a daily basis on paper. We were amazed by the gigantic project that is Busanga. You have given us some major problems. I noted three problems: the relocation of mining squares, compensation for residents, but also the price, ”said Eustache Muhanzi after visiting the Busanga dam.I had the opportunity to feel the grandiose work that you are doing. I encourage. Congratulations. We have experienced all the reports that we receive on a daily basis on paper. We were amazed by the gigantic project that is Busanga. You have given us some major problems. I noted three problems: the relocation of mining squares, compensation for residents, but also the price, ”said Eustache Muhanzi after visiting the Busanga dam.I had the opportunity to feel the grandiose work that you are doing. I encourage. Congratulations. We have experienced all the reports that we receive on a daily basis on paper. We were amazed by the gigantic project that is Busanga. You have given us some major problems. I noted three problems: the relocation of mining squares, compensation for residents, but also the price, ”said Eustache Muhanzi after visiting the Busanga dam.compensation for residents, but also the price, ”said Eustache Muhanzi after visiting the Busanga dam.compensation for residents, but also the price, ”said Eustache Muhanzi after visiting the Busanga dam.
The budget for this project, estimated at 656 million USD, was to be financed equally between the DRC and China under the Chinese contract. But with the promulgation of the law on the liberalization of the electricity sector in 2014, the Congolese state preferred to engage private investors in this project rather than spend millions of dollars intended to finance infrastructure projects, according to Moïse Ekanga, coordinator of the Sino-Congolese Program Coordination and Monitoring Office (BCPSC) or “Chinese Contract”.
“This project is fully funded by the Chinese, who hold 75% of the shares and have ceded 25% to Congolese state and private enterprises via a porting system. Busanga is to allow the production of 240 megawatts. The mining project needs 170 megawatts, so it will be possible to reinject 70 megawatts into the national grid which will be added to the 50 megawatts provided so far by SNEL (national electricity company) to the mining project. It is therefore a very important project for the energy future of the country, ”explained Moïse Ekanga recently in an interview with Belgian media Afrique La Libre.
Aware of this same mission, the Minister of Hydraulic Resources will also have to evaluate the construction project of a transformer station in Kasumbalesa and receive the new transformer stations of the South network.
