The building of most large dams in Africa dates back decades. However, since the beginning
of the 21st century there has been a revival in the building of large-scale hydropower projects,
and the Grand Inga project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is attracting regional
interest. New large-scale hydro projects raise questions both about whether the full potential of
the diversity of energy choices has been explored and about the sheer scale of these initiatives in
ensuring effective generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. This prompts countries
and regional organisations to evaluate the composition of their energy infrastructure, considering
the availability of renewable energy sources (RES) and the need to balance those energy choices
with scalable power projects.
