Brazzaville, Kinshasa to better coordinate energy resources

The two Congos have drafted an agreement aimed at increasing their cooperation in the generation of electric power and management of water resources in the subregion, the Brazzaville-based news agency, Depeches de Brazzaville, reported on Monday. The announcement followed negotiations between ministerial delegations of the Republic of Congo (ROC) and its much larger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Their experts are due to meet on Friday in Brazzaville, the ROC capital, to work out details of the planned cooperation and finalise an agreement. The two delegations also decided to relaunch the dormant joint commission, which will be charged with evaluating the planned diversion of water of the Ubangui river to the Lake Chad basin; creating a central authority for the integrated management of water in central Africa (Autorite de gestion integree des eaux en Afrique centrale - AGIEAC); and reviewing plans to divert water from the Congo basin to eastern, northern and southern Africa. The commission is scheduled to meet in the coming weeks in Kinshasa, capital of the DRC. The Congo basin's hydrological system straddles several countries (ROC and DRC for the most part, but also Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Zambia and Tanzania, stretching through Lake Tanganyika). The Congo River alone accounts for half the total volume of waters, which pour into the Atlantic from Africa.