Quarterly Report #7: DRC Power Sector Reform Project

The project aims to improve power sector operations and the enabling environment to increase access to electricity through domestic and foreign investment. The project was designed to support the implementation of the national Law on Electricity No. 14/011, promulgated on June 17, 2014, to provide a blueprint for Congolese power sector reform. The project's initial objective was to guide the reform process and manage operationalization of the regulatory authority and the rural electrification agency, as well as, the development of the legal and regulatory framework necessary for their functioning. During the first year and a half of activities, the PSR Project delivered to the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (GDRC) all the statutory elements required for the actual operationalization of both institutions, as well as, developed and got validated by stakeholders over twenty decrees, ministerial and inter-ministerial orders. However, the GDRC was unable to operationalize the new institutions nor promulgate the new legal and regulatory framework. In light of the complexities presented by the Congolese national situation, the contracting authority instructed the PSR Project to focus exclusively on implementation of specific power projects in selected provinces and perform any further reform activities only with respect to the needs of specific power projects supported in individual provinces. As a result, from January 2018 through to the end of the PSR Project's performance period, the PSR effort will be fully focused on screening and identification of viable power projects and providing assistance to the selected projects' preparation and implementation through a transaction advisory service. The PSR Project implements the DRC Power Sector Reform Project through a project management team operating in Kinshasa on a full-time basis. The team includes one Key Personnel and one locally hired expert. The project draws short-term technical assistance (STTA) from a pool of international experts mobilized worldwide on an intermittent basis and as required by project needs. In January 2018, the project's management structure was modified to fit the needs of the new work approach introduced in the previous section. The updated management structure is illustrated by the chart in Exhibit 1. The new orientation of the project activities requires particular expertise provision of transaction advisory services for power project preparation and implementation. Most of the existing team members possess expertise enabling them to deal with different aspects of such work. Their expertise stems from previous experience and is reinforced by the acquired knowledge of the power sector in the DRC in the initial phases of the PSR Project's performance period. During the reporting quarter, the PSR Project with support from the ECODIT Home Office initiated a search for additional short-term experts to provide technical support as transaction advisors to the identified power projects in the DRC provinces. A number of suitable experts have been identified both internationally and in the DRC. During the reporting period, PSR STTA performed three missions to the DRC from outside of the country, as shown in Exhibit 2. The project's management structure and personnel mobilization efforts are designed to support the implementation of specific power projects in selected provinces and provide assistance to the selected projects' preparation and implementation through a transaction advisory service.