The Dark Continent will soon see the light at the end of a very long tunnel. An $80 billion project would produce twice the amount of electricity that Africa is generating today and that would help enrich the continent and spread the light across it. A proposed hydroelectric dam on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo could bring power to hundreds of millions of people. Representatives from seven African countries are meeting with construction firms and bankers to plan construction on Grand Inga, as the dam is named.
Grand Inga was proposed in the 1980s but never got beyond feasibility studies because of political turmoil in central Africa. But now it stands a chance, according to Gerald Doucet, secretary general of the World Energy Council think-tank, which is convening the London meeting. The dam will make sure that Africa starts moving forward on the path of progress by lighting up millions of lives across the continent. The best though is that there will be no burning of fossil fuel to achieve that goal.
But the skeptics still believe that all the power produced will be sold to South Africa and rest of the continent which is in darkness will continue to remain so. While only time will tell if the fears are justified, it is still very interesting to see that projects like this are being taken up to both improve the continent and also spread the green wave.
