Providing sustainable energy to rural communities in Congo

Access to electricity remains a key issue in sub-Saharan Africa, with only 50% of the population having access to an energy supply in 2022, compared with over 90% in all other regions of the world since 2015 (International Energy Agency, 2022). Of the 760 million people worldwide without electricity, 79% live in sub-Saharan Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the overall percentage is 50.6%, but this figure masks huge disparities between urban (67.5%) and rural (12.4%) areas (World Bank, 2022).

The most affordable decentralized solutions could be used to provide electricity to more than half of those currently without access, while creating local employment, upgrading essential services and improving community well-being for the long term (International Energy Agency, 2022). Electrification also helps improve general health, children's education and women's employment, while reducing social inequalities (Dinkelman 2011, Barron, Khandker et al. 2014).

To overcome these challenges, it is essential that solutions are tailored to the specific local context, such as those developed by the Pot@maï project, in order to reduce these disparities and advance the development of rural communities.

The Pot@maï project is based on a technological solution developed by L'Aquaphile, that combines a submerged water turbine and an above-water maintenance system. This solution powers an Essential Services Unit, co-designed with women from neighboring villages to meet their priority needs: access to drinking water, refrigeration and food processing, lighting, telecommunications and handicraft development.

The project aims to improve food security and energy self-sufficiency in remote villages, while promoting skills transfer to local communities, most of which are made up of women.

Through the partnership with Eval-Lab, the project’s social impact and implementation costs will be documented. FID will finance this joint mission to evaluate the results produced by existing Essential Services Units, as well as those currently under construction, and other pre-selected sites. The study will assess the impact of the “Essential Services Unit + New and Renewable Energy” solution on the living conditions of local communities.

The project aims to improve the quality and efficiency of the Essential Service Units’ operations in order to provide continuous access to sustainable energy, while improving training and support for communities so that they can make optimal use of the services and equipment available.

The project deliverables include:

• Improving food security by better preserving food and reducing agricultural losses;
• Promoting the shift toward local, fresh produce and facilitating access to markets for producers;
• Boosting productivity and providing more economic opportunities for village communities.

In the long term, the project aims to:

• Improve living conditions and develop various economic activities, such as catering, canning and baking services;
• Empower women by involving them in service management and providing more training and job opportunities;
• Increase human capital by improving local skills and development prospects.

The study conducted with Eval-Lab will analyze the project’s impact, confirm whether the deliverables have been achieved and identify areas of improvement for the next phases. The lessons learned will be applied so that the Essential Services Unit model can be adapted and rolled out to other similar regions.