Congo Power

Improving economic stability and livelihoods in the African Great Lakes Region

With ongoing concern that the informal or illicit minerals trade in the African Great Lakes Region helps fund violence, companies are implementing due diligence systems to delink their supply chain from conflict financing. At the same time, stakeholders recognize the important role of ongoing engagement to regional stability and the need to address companies’ supply chain risk. In an economy with very little access to energy, especially beyond diesel generators, providing clean power generation at conflict-free mines and surrounding communities can bring additional momentum to scale up the legitimate minerals trade.

The Congo Power project seeks to improve economic stability and livelihoods via collective action and investment to support conflict-free sourcing commitments and economic development at a national and regional scale by introducing clean power as an incentive for mining partners.

As the secretariat of the Congo Power project, RESOLVE designs and facilitates strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and governance; manages platform resources; coordinates with technical partners on solar project deployment; and supports reporting, outreach, and communications.

Specific metrics, such as kilowatts deployed and numbers of people supported, as well as the relationships among energy access, development, and conflict, are in early stages of development.