ELKAP I has provided us with the opportunity to consolidate our expertise in the field of rural electrification in sub-Saharan Africa and to establish a long-term relationship with the local population and public institutions. The project shows that it is possible in the D.R.C. to develop rural electrification projects using the existing hydroelectric potential and local labour, despite the lack of basic infrastructure for transport and a transparent legal and institutional context, as long as one has the financial and logistical support of the local authorities and a partnership with an international organization such as the EU.

Our technical, administrative, logistical, juridical, and institutional experience will help us tremendously with the implementation of the new ELKAP II project (ELKAP FOR ALL). It consists of the replication of the first project on a larger scale to meet the needs and demand of the population: extensive growth (expansion of the network to other villages and neighbourhoods) and intensive growth (connecting people who are not yet connected in the villages which received electricity through ELKAP I). As the feasibility study demonstrates, the new project will provide access to energy services to 70,850 people and plans to connect 3,000 homes by the end of the project.

Right now, we are fundraising for ELKAP II. The Province of Katanga is ready to co-finance the project and undertake key infrastructure works (road repair and construction of a bridge over the Lulua River). These works will have a major effect on the development of the territory as a whole.