In preparation PURE Power DRC
Democratic Republic of the Congo — the river program.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the largest market on the program's map and the one where the default sequence changes most. Rural electricity access is around one percent, agriculture employs six in ten Congolese, and logistics run on rivers. PURE Power DRC is carried by the platform's own operating company, licensed in the country, until a network lead member is designated.
No African Agribusiness Incubators Network lead member is yet designated for the DRC; the program is carried by PURE Power Africa's DRC operating company and is open to a network member joining as the country wheel.
At a glance
Figures are indicative, drawn from World Bank World Development Indicators, national energy compacts and national statistics, latest available year; full sources on request.
- Population
- 113 million (2025)
- Rural population
- 55% (2025)
- Agriculture in employment
- 59% (2025)
- Electricity access, national
- ≈22% (2024)
- Electricity access, rural
- ≈1% (2024)
- Clean cooking access
- ≈1–5% (2023–2025)
- Currency
- Congolese franc (CDF), with the US dollar in wide circulation
- Languages
- French; Lingala, Swahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba
1Instruments in place
- A licensed solar-plus-storage metro-grid in Mai-Ndombe province — the DRC anchor and the urban-commercial sibling of the rural hubs
- Feasibility, environmental and tariff work completed with Congolese engineering partners
2Agriculture and value chains
Cassava — the DRC is among the world's largest producers and consumers — plantain, maize, groundnut, rice and oil palm. Post-harvest losses reach 17% for maize; cassava and palm-oil processing remain largely informal against enormous raw volumes. Value addition close to the field, and cold chain on the river routes, is the opportunity.
3Energy compact and regulation
The DRC's National Energy Compact (January 2025) targets 62% electricity access and 30% clean cooking by 2030 with a five-fold expansion of capacity and US$20 billion of private capital. Mini-grids operate under public-service concessions of up to thirty years under the electricity law of 17 June 2014; the national rural electrification agency has been operational since 2020. Large off-grid funds are now disbursing grants to mini-grid, solar home system and clean-cooking operators.
4Counterpart institutions
- Energy
- Ministère des Ressources Hydrauliques et de l'Électricité; SNEL (utility); ANSER (rural and peri-urban electrification agency); ARE (regulator)
- Agriculture
- Ministère de l'Agriculture et Sécurité Alimentaire
- Finance
- Ministère des Finances
5Programs the hubs can attach to
- Mwinda Fund — off-grid energy grants (World Bank)
- Access to Green Energy (AGREE) program
- Agricultural value-chain development projects (African Development Bank)
- Mission 300 National Energy Compact
6What is different here
- Scale and river logistics: a country the size of Western Europe with sparse roads. Hubs are organized around river ports and provincial capitals, not a national road or grid backbone; small, modular sites are the logistics answer.
- Dollarization: the US dollar circulates alongside the franc — pricing, payroll and collection are designed for a two-currency economy from day one.
- Security is regional, not national: parts of the east are affected by conflict; the west, center and south are comparatively stable and are treated separately in siting.
7How deployment runs
The DRC deployment is completely different from Burundi's: an anchor metro-grid first, with hubs and spokes placed along the river corridor it serves; equipment moved by water; a country wheel stood up with a Congolese incubation partner once designated. Small is good for logistics; the absence of fuel makes e-mobility urgent.
8Next step
Engagement runs through the Bujumbura headquarters and the DRC operating company in Kinshasa.
A country launch-phase package — site assessment, equipment configuration against local crops and volumes, the partner and program map, and a funding roadmap built on programs already financed in the country — is prepared jointly with the country member for an interested government or funder.