the w. d w's crime fighters are back with africa. most successful radio drama series continues. all episodes are available online. and of course you can share and discuss on d, w, africa's facebook page, and other social media platforms, crime fighters, tune in. now this is d, w. news, africa coming up on the program. can africans benefit from europe's energy needs as the democratic republic of congo ponders plans for the world? the largest hydropower dam. we ask what's in it for the average citizen? most of the energy will be used to produce hydrogen to model everything that's produced, a will be brought to the center to the west. the we don't think that we've already covered the electricity needs of our country over. also coming off. all that smaller factor, whole tentative,

we meet the nun who's generating goodwill in the community by producing power for her neighbors. and they're flying like birds in the sky. the select circles of gunners para gliders, attracting hundreds of enthusiasts. wishing for the wind to lift them up, hide in a way you see people don't look like you're doing what you're doing today. oh, i could also get them to. so what i'm saying, just phil is going to be william wants to be a lot of people like ah, hello, i'm told me a lot voids good to have you with us. with the war in the ukraine intensifying, many european countries are attempting to win themselves off russia and gas and seek all the trade partners and energy sources. the government of the aquatic

republic of congo is in talks with an australian energy giant to create the world's biggest hydropower dam and provide green hydrogen for a global market. that's a potential energy source which is climate neutral. but there are questions about where this would leave local people in the darcy, whose energy needs are still unmet. units good in was in mattie close to where the grand ingo damn is planned. and he sent us this report. my tardy in western d r. c is the hometown of glory pon su. he's the president of the country's association of pharmacists, and he's out canvassing his members again and again. he has the same complaint, the lack of a stable electricity supply, either local political. ah, lizzie thermo, a power countless doctor, the ventilator that he did, ah, lucy thermo, and the cooling system is also down there. lip ordered the i'm all i bill,

many medical products i need continuous cold temperatures for their story, loss is studied, is it? but the chain of cooling cannot be maintained law and guarantee law that i showed before. a power cut recently took out these refrigerators at one of the pharmacies . m. s cell is a blood substitute, if not properly called, it can cause complications. so it was thrown away glory, parents who can't understand why power outages are still a fact of life for people in my tardy. the country's biggest hydroelectric dam. inga is located just a short distance upstream on the massive congo river completed between 1972 and 982. the 2 anger dams alone account for 70 percent of the country's power. most of the d. c. power is hydro electric, but just one in 5, people have access to electricity, palmetto co, n day,

a service manager at the dams it should be popular short today. population of a democratic republic of congo has almost no phone and we are now approaching 100000000 people that we saw in the power generated by a one. and 2 as they are currently installed, is not enough for we need to pass on with anger. 3 poor plants to build africa's biggest hydro electric plant had been circulating for decades now for to skew future industries. and australian company is in talks with the countries president the river congo would be redirected to flood the bony river valley story. water behind a huge, concrete wall to plan has the potential to increase power generation $25.00 fold. but a recent presentation explains for to skews motivation. it wants to use the electricity

to produce grain, hydrogen, to sell on the world market. probably not a new soccer is the coordinator of a local congolese development and geo. he is well aware that europe wants to reduce carbon emissions and dependency on energy imports from russia. he's not convinced for the skews offer will benefit the d. r. c. with the support to put the euro, or most of the energy will be used to produce hydrogen. not the camarilla, lucy, that's the concept of the center and the periphery. everything that's produced, a will be brought to the center to the west where they are facing the challenge of the energy transition is on was o d. and they think that they need to acquire hydrogen. it boston fully, but we don't think that we've already covered the electricity needs of our country . what is up where live is there an electricity banner therapy? there is a different view in kinshasa, the capital of the d. r. c,

alexia k. m. b d. bomb. pender is the special advisor in charge of infrastructure to the president . he sees the damn as a motor of the countries industrialization. he has a blunt answer to those who want to supply electricity to all remote areas. even if we go to live every household, even though the job, they want to be in the position. so we look at station where the electricity says those, the local have gone back and my tardy. there's only one thing for sure. for motions of the local economy, like laurie pans to power cuts are a fact of life for businesses like his for some analysis of the plans and the d i. c. m. join now by brian command, the, an independent energy analyst faced in south africa, and he joins us from johannesburg. ryan,

welcome to the dublin. he is africa. and how can we begin by getting your thoughts on the statement from the president's special advisor. he says the plan is not intended to supply electricity to people in the whole of d r c. so who is it for? thank you. yes. so there is a increased demand for production of hydrogen and physically an industrialized nations. policy shifts in particular have driven an interest in investments in production of hydrogen as a fuel which may at a future point in time replace the need for elaine g get used for you to main before electrification, but it does have some other locations as well, including transport, so there's not much use, not much demand at the moment in africa for hydrogen. so those hydrogen investments are most likely going to be for your

a particular drive from this obviously coming as a result of the, the tensions within the contract between ukraine and russia, which has sent gas prices. all right? but essentially this will be generating power. is there a way that this electricity can also be distributed to citizens in the d. r c for domestic use? not just going out to yes. and the challenge, unfortunately, historically has been in southern africa. mining corporations typically multinational and have front of the money leverage to governments to put the investment in for power stations. and if we visualize it like a body, they have put the transportation from the massive generators that they rested in. and the archery is go into the mines and heavy industry, very minimal, heavy, heavy industry outside of south africa. but different if you

a lot of minds vfc ambia among others. and then vanes where they do exist goes into major towns and cities. and largely we provide electricity, which benefits largely wealthy residents and government buildings and a few small industry. so that has been the historical trend, and unfortunately the situation is much the same. the grander project has held a lot of present promise. it's a massive infrastructure project at the potential capacity for that. then there's tremendous financial arrangements that have been structured to finance the grant has meant mining capital has been sized and it's unlikely we have already seen the commend you have nothing on like you to change. unfortunately, in the short term now they are already to inc. adams, which are operating well below capacity. what's to say that this 3rd one will

deliver on what it promises as so the challenge of buying reliable, stable tricity that is also affordable to both residence and industry like is very much tied to building a capable state, the se. unfortunately, the 2 angle want to get to projects you mention as well as the aging transmission infrastructure have been the result of poor investment planning from government and also lack of lack of regulation, lack of implementation policy. this has been an issue and also the, the over indebtedness of intimately tied to the overages of the d. c. and the unfortunate position is not almost criminal position and it finds itself in starting, ever since the assassination patrice, remember, brian, can you sum up what a more just model of power generation would look like?

great. so i think in good them is, is actually and an excellent case id of some of the central problems within, within africa when it comes to infrastructure. finance is that at the moment, you know, a lot of the financial anger comes to a bank and it just been tied to particular forms that have resulted in the liberalization of that nature. if you think that in the se, and yet we see in other parts of the world in south africa, in china and brazil that major rural electrification in particular, large part of the israel has been fronted by probably finance. and that it's typically done so because building transmission and restriction room areas is very costly. and it's unlikely that no way to agriculture workers. and with this more industries as well, but those residents will be able to pay the cost of fronting that infrastructure. that's one of the reasons why you don't see the power lines connected to the

villages, but you do see them connected to mine. so in order to make this just, we need a regime that cross subsidizes need. it needs to be a tax regime. it needs to be strong institutions and can also regulate and the planning of our infrastructure is developed and that is all intimately tied to building a capable stayed within the gsp that is no hope of adjusting days in our building, an equitable energy industry. they also need to, the dfcs has to some of the most precious minerals and that they've been report on up to report. yeah. yeah. but the amounts of elicit financial that have flowed out to the company. and so one of the ways to kind of that is to have an adequate tax connection regime which is tied again to capable state which can help redistribute some of those resources to those who needed. okay, brian comanche, an independent energy analyst based in johanna johannesburg. many thanks for

speaking to us. so big business, big finance and big power generation obviously come with strings attached and they're of limited value for the small scale power user. in the d r. c. i even where communities are on the grid supply is patchy, but could there be another way? let's take a look at small scale power generation with a project that has transformed life in a small community and showing the provision of vital services in east and darcy. not your usual, none. this is system. i'll francine caesar in how come boots and white helmet. she spends most of her day here managing this local power plant. it took her 3 years to find the finances and built his hydro electric plant, alongside bible studies, she earlier trained as an electrical engineer, man,

vegetable. would they plan the the convent only did an electrician wedding, a technician who could help out for it. they saw and made a talent electrical engineering naperville so they offered me an opportunity and get to go study the technology. i legally, catherine, that's where it all started. is he on the, is it in order to say this constant outages and deep frustration with the lack of power inspired says to of unseen to start racing funds in 2015? now the hydro electric plant lights up her local community, including her convent, the local church, a health clinic, and 2 schools, all free of charge. i vaguely pool ha e one for the with the electricity we produce for the school and we can train young people walk in for a while and with the power that we supply to the hospital. yeah, we feel that we serve the whole population because we are there for the poor. well

up would be less and it is in the hospital that we meet people from poor background . if they to so at the local hospital. this transformation has been crucial on bus him a little didn't we. we sometimes had to spend a whole night without electricity at the hospital. girl loved it and you can understand the importance of power at night in the hospital, we saw that it was difficult going without electricity. and it was like a resurrection. when our neighbors helped us by supplying the power we need to the was a, was a little of that without says, the al francine is determination. her local community would have just a few hours of power per week. now they are free of the problems that plague the rundown and miss managed national generating system.

ah, you're watching the dublin years africa still to come shaking up gender norms. and if the opium we meet women mix ologist will behind the bars and addis and the demands taking to the skies as they promote paragliding in a country. not usually keen on extreme sports. now the effects of russia invasion of ukraine also extend to farming even in africa. plans need 3 basic ingredients in their fertilizer, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and russia is a top supplier of all 3. so the growing conflict translate into scarcity for farmers and rising food costs. but nigeria is looking to diversify as d. w america acoya tells us from all your state.

james strickland is business is glad skill farming. he grows nice cassava and other food crops. so he depends heavily on fertilizers to boost his harvest. getting enough of it was never a problem for the farmer. typically took with his sauls is his what allows us directly from russia was, seems the russia ukraine invasion. he's not able to do that. he now saw the specializes locally but the door they as locally sauced. the prices have now doubled last year. i. why conveniently, without even thinking twice, i could buy $150.00 pounds of fits eliza more right. not only how something bugs or fertilizer due to the change in price and what i like it or not, i just have to sloss for one to actually get north. it allows us to come from sure what i'm doing here. so it's really affecting me negative. sure. good, he says he has no choice but to increase the price of his farm produce. meaning

that the rising costs will hit the price of food nigerians are putting on the tables. international sanctions mean russia is no longer an option for an adrian farmers as a source of fertilizers, cumberlands was of the problem. so because of the cookie, even if you, what russia now you have a good night, you know, i'm the many other countries are seeking the juice to wind rush. so other countries of wind, other countries to why we are looking at you was somewhat of we must look the ones just a month ago, africa, sweetest man, a legal angle. he opened the continent lattice fertilizer plant in league us. it has the capacity to produce 3000000 tons of nitrogen fertilizer. every year. the new plant will make a fusion put leather production with excess capacity to it's what the other african mike is on the racial world. our products have already reached africa market and

song in the united states, brazil, india, and mexico. and what is production? make counterfeit. eliza scarcity in nigeria, but for now the prices remain too high for famous lecture equity to afford to if he appear now. where bars typically have only men behind the counter in a society where gender norms are hard to break, more women are learning to master the art of making cocktails and are even joining bartender competitions. it's a form of social and economic emancipation for many of them. maria get sent us this report from addis ababa cigarette and lumps her job. but being a female bartender in ethiopia is considered highly unusual. it can also be frowned upon because it involves working at night. now even cigarette as husband wants her

to find another job. and look with it. i think the main problem is the fact of being a woman. many people don't believe women should work. when you're a woman and you come out in the evening in our culture, people will usually assume you're doing some other kind of work. not a normal job approval on this, but it's becoming more common to see women behind the bar. some bar owners are even encouraging their female staff to take part in bartender competitions. we focus on put emphasis on and hiring women white fingers as well. i personally feel women give better service in this industry to give them the opportunity to work in the service industry is very, very important because they they, they don't get the opportunity to do that. the night is young, it is popular bar in addis ababa. and tonight, a big, i'm willow is the manager. but being a woman in charge can be challenging in

a male dominated society. some customers simply don't like it. a baby though is proud. she can set an example or a meeting and our, our cost to one lady. it's very difficult and one customer come if he has money, you want to buy you dyslexic. the voices, everybody's lucky. and here to fix his internet. and he has gave getting money from a handful company company saying that nobody failing working at night means a baby is spending less time with her family. but the job means she can provide for them. she shares her one bedroom home with her daughter and cousin i have enough for visitation. so i, it's, i will and i'm paying house in. and before it was very difficult for me because i sleep at daytime closed my door. and i,

when i wake up to say thank shower and they go to work. so i don't meet with anybody. now everybody understand me and they know what am i, am i working? what am i being but a bit won't stay here. she hopes hard work will enable her to fulfil her dreams. her goal is to one day manage her own bar, or even her own luxury hotel. ah. when you think of paragliding gonna may not be the 1st place that springs to mind, but event organizers in the west african country. a trying to change preconceptions with their annual festival. in the hope that garner could one day become a paragliding hub, they're taking to the skies again. gun us annual paragliding festival and carnival was grounded for 2 years because of the coven condemning. but now, hundreds of paragliding enthusiasts are back in eastern ghana, on

a mission to spread the word. spread your wings and be free as a bird. was to put things in our safe sports. eh, and people have like it mentality of like, oh no desire for white people. that kind of thing. but i'll just who said that they've never been here. quade was one of just flor ghanaians flying solo. but the tight knit group are proud to represent their home. when you see, people don't look like you doing what you're doing the like, oh, i could also get him to shoot. i'm saying just fil is gonna really motivate a lot of people. once people fly for the 1st time, according to clay, many i will to make sure it's not their last the always discouraged. jeffries don't goose how india france company doing that. but it's debts easy like

that to why haven't i been delighted any? yes, i'm going to wait and i then, how do i go about his didn't house? it's like you, their information. quai is the only gonna and certified to carry others into the clouds. but the scene is growing thanks in part to what he says is the sports a night quality for fostering community. hm. i mean, i deemed out mostly would be like to have is more honest, some way where people would come. i renewed at o v pilots. every we came, come to loud, try how fine and pledge, who, whom class up susie chill out spec to chris community by helping others to fly. quite hopes to pass on principles like patience and tranquillity. to a growing community of ghanaian para gladys. that's it for now. be sure to check out our other stories on d, w dot com,

forward slash africa, or on facebook and twitter. and we'll leave you with these pictures of that paragliding festival and east and gonna wear that back. a loft after 2 years of waiting. we'll see you next time i for now. thank

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