World's biggest power project in DRC to be revived by group of development finance institutions

A group of Development finance institutions plan to revive the biggest electricity generation project in the world, located in Africa. 

This powerhouse team includes South Africa's Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and Industrial Development Corporation, alongside continent-wide institutions like the African Development Bank and the African Export-Import Bank. They're also getting support from the New Development Bank, which represents the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, potentially expanding in the future).

“These five parties have taken the initiative to say, ‘Let’s come together, let’s look at what we can do in terms of getting this goal off the ground,'” said Mpho Kubelo, the DBSA’s chief risk officer, in a discussion with CNBC Africa.

The project has been termed The Grand Inga Hydropower Project and is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project, which was proposed in 2013, is proposed to have a total installed capacity of over 42,000 MW, to contribute to the electricity supply for DRC and the entire continent.

At full capacity, the complex would replace China's Three Gorges Dam as the world's largest electricity plant. Unfortunately, a history of government corruption scandals and project scope creep has slowed the progress of the multi-phase project estimated at $80 billion. 

The development finance Institutions will need to attract more private investors to facilitate the project said Kubelo.

Kubelo stated that the banks have been working together since a global summit in Paris last June and are backed by the presidents of both Congo and South Africa. South Africa agreed to buy some of the power produced as a customer. 

This news comes after the Congo's government announcement in May that it had signed a preliminary deal with Nigeria’s Natural Oilfield Services to build a 7GW plant at the site replacing an agreement with Fortescue, an Australian mining company to develop a 40GW complex.