DRC Pushes Electricity Reforms to Protect Household Budgets and Unlock Power Investment

SNEL’s 2024 annual report shows nearly one million billed customers and annual electricity sales of about 10,000 gigawatt-hours, with high-voltage users consuming most of the energy sold.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is working to strengthen electricity regulation, with reforms designed to put utilities on firmer financial footing, attract investment and expand access to power across the country. The work centres on a challenge that affects both families and electricity suppliers: establishing prices that reflect the cost of delivering power without placing household purchasing power under greater pressure, supported by clearer rules for connecting to the grid.

Clearer Pricing Starts With Understanding Supply Costs

The Electricity Sector Regulatory Authority (ARE) and the African Development Bank held a stakeholder workshop in Kinshasa from 21 to 25 September 2026 under the African Energy Sector Technical Assistance Programme (AESTAP). Experts from the Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity, ARE, the National Electricity Company (SNEL), private operators and other public institutions examined three priorities: determining electricity supply costs, harmonising tariff methodology and establishing a regulatory framework for grid connections.

A tariff study covering SNEL's operational area will give the regulator tools to assess the actual costs of electricity services, changes in demand and the revenues operators need to sustain their businesses. Callixte Kambanda, Head of the African Development Bank's Energy Policy, Regulation and Statistics Division, described effective economic regulation as a foundation for attracting investment, strengthening the sector's sustainability and improving service quality, explaining that AESTAP supports the tools and institutional capacity needed to turn reforms into practical benefits for the population.

Household Affordability and Utility Finances Share the Agenda

The study recommends gradually introducing a transparent and equitable tariff framework that protects household purchasing power and provides adequate returns to support investment in electricity generation, transmission and distribution. The proposed approach recognises that pricing decisions affect consumers' budgets and operators' ability to finance infrastructure, making a clearer understanding of costs essential to decisions about the sector's future.

Soraya Aziz-Moto, Director-General of ARE, said the study would help the authority understand sector costs, changing demand and the effects of pricing decisions, supporting more transparent and predictable regulation that takes consumers' needs into account. Its recommendations favour a simple tariff framework that can be put into operation initially, with more sophisticated mechanisms introduced as data quality and institutional capacity improve, allowing the regulator to build on tools it can use effectively.

SNEL's Customer Figures Reveal a Planning Challenge

SNEL's 2024 annual report shows nearly one million billed customers and annual electricity sales of about 10,000 gigawatt-hours, with high-voltage users consuming most of the energy sold. Low-voltage customers account for more than 99 percent of its customer portfolio, creating a striking difference between the number of customers in each group and their share of electricity consumption. A small group of large industrial users accounts for the bulk of demand, underscoring the need for more reliable sector data to improve national energy forecasting.

Speaking at the workshop's closing ceremony on 25 September, African Development Bank Country Manager for the DRC Mohamed Cherif placed the work within the broader task of building a well-regulated, financially viable electricity sector capable of attracting investment to extend access nationwide. Greater predictability for investors and stronger utility finances are central to that effort, linking tariff and connection rules with the funding needed for expansion. The reforms form part of Mission 300, the joint African Development Bank Group and World Bank Group initiative to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.