Investment in (DRC) Infrastructure and Energy is Paramount

Kinshasa will welcome a broad base of international and African investors to the first ever DRC Energy & Infrastructure Investment Summit, organized by Africa Oil & Power (AOP) (www.AfricaOilAndPower.com), in 2021; the African Energy Chamber is a strategic launch partner and AOP will draw on its network in China, Europe and across Africa, including South Africa, to promote investment in oil and gas, power, mining and infrastructure; the DRC has one of Africa’s largest and most diverse endowments of mineral resources and a need to develop infrastructure nationwide. The event will highlight projects across all areas of the country.

Africa Oil & Power (AOP) is launching the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first ever DRC Energy & Infrastructure Investment Summit on 8-9 September 2021. With unrealized potential across all areas of the economy, the DRC’s development requires massive investment. AOP welcomes Chinese, European and African energy, mining, construction and power companies to the country.

AOP will be producing a special edition Africa Energy Series: DRC 2020 report this year, to examine the projects and sectors of most interest to the participants in the summit. The briefing will be distributed to AOP’s web, social, event and media audience of over 100,000 individuals.

In the petroleum industry, the DRC may hold around 20 billion barrels of undiscovered oil. Natural gas, when discovered and developed, could power the emerging economy as it has done in numerous African countries over the last decade. Exploration for oil and gas in the DRC has barely begun. In the mining sector, already the mainstay of the economy, the DRC presents an unrivalled opportunity on the African continent. Infrastructure, including support for extractive industries and civil engineering projects, is required on a national scale to link and uplift projects and populations, and bridge international frontiers.

“The scale of the challenge and the breadth and scale of the opportunity is unique on the African continent. AOP will be working with the government and private sector to showcase the projects and initiatives where investment can be most impactful,” said James Chester, Acting CEO of AOP. “The DRC targets universal power access by 2050, up from 9% now, and has just scratched the surface of its hydrocarbon potential, with 25,000 barrels per day of oil production. To build capacity and create more value in-country from its resources, infrastructure investment is essential.”

In producing the DRC Energy & Infrastructure Investment Summit, AOP is committed to bringing FDI to the DRC and to facilitating the plans of the new administration, in place since 2019, as well as actors such as the African Development Bank, the World Bank and others, in raising access to electricity, capacity building and creating jobs. AOP invites cross-sector collaboration between logistics, power, oil and gas, mining, engineering and construction firms to bring new solutions and enable growth in the DRC.