Electricity supply for a poor quarter in Kinshasa

Clean electricity generated by hydropower is indeed available in the Democratic Republic of Congo - but not everywhere. Many poor suburbs in the capital Kinshasa are woefully undersupplied or not connected to the electricity grid at all.

In 2002, after many years of tough negotiations with the state power utility SNEL, the ecumenical self-help initiative Entraide oecuménique de développement succeeded in getting the Mbanza-Lemba quarter hooked up to the grid. SNEL provided the underground cable, the transformer and the electricity meters, while the local inhabitants themselves did all the earth-moving work. MISEREOR covered the costs of installation materials, connecting cables, technicians’ wages and transport.

The power supply has decisively improved quality of life in the area. Hundreds of households now have light, and small companies can operate machinery, such as maize mills, planing and welding machines. Children born at night no longer come into the world by the light of petroleum lamps. And even the sports ground, which is a very important social meeting place, is now lit up in the evenings.