Azimio leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday, September 28, spearheaded a multinational discussion on the proposed Ksh9.65 trillion hydro-electric Grand Inga Dam project.
Odinga, who doubles as the African Union High Representative, addressed several heads of state and proposed that the project should not be solely undertaken to benefit of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He argued that the dam provided Africa an opportunity to harness its own raw materials and called on all states and regions of the continent to chip in and see the dam’s completion.
"We need to find a way in which we can add value to the raw materials and particularly address the issue of energy. We cannot do value addition without sufficient energy in the country, hence the Grand Inga dam."
"Grand Inga presents an enormous opportunity for the continent and it cannot be developed as purely DRC and that is why we need to have all African countries chip in and develop it as a continental project," he reiterated.
The former Prime Minister assured the African leaders that the project had the potential to solve the energy crises in the continent but called on all pools - Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and Central Africa - to provide the nessesary support.
“We need to address pool interconnectivity so that we are able to transport the electricity from Inga to the. This will help bring down the cost of energy in our continent," Raila reiterated.
Heads of state or representatives from DR Congo, South Africa, Zambia, Angola, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ghana graced the event. Officials from the African Union were also present.
The Grand Inga is an expansion of the Inga I and Inga II power plants which have a capacity of 351 megawatts (MW) and 1,424MW respectively.
Set to be established on the Inga Falls along the Congo River the mega-dam will see the erection of Inga III (Basse Chute) and IV (Haute Chute) which and generate 42,000 MW of electricity.
The construction of the mega project is in line with continental and global plans to boost hydroelectricity generation and create energy efficiency. A lot of investment has been channeled into green energy production.
