On June 3, 2025, the World Bank approved $250 million funding for the Inga 3 Dam, a mega hydropower project on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
At International Rivers, we believe that healthy rivers and empowered communities are essential to building a just, climate-resilient future, and we support Congolese community and civil society groups in asking the World Bank to reconsider its $250 million initial financing for the Inga 3 dam project, which carries a high social and environmental risk.
Inga 3 is falsely promoted as clean energy, but in reality, it poses a severe environmental and social threat. It would flood critical ecosystems like rainforests and wetlands, harm the Congo River’s biodiversity, and displace over 30,000 people — many of whom were never compensated for past dam projects. Instead of benefiting local communities, the electricity is geared toward mining and exports. While the project lacks proper consultation, it also ignores past injustices, and fails to properly consult and include affected communities in shaping DRC’s energy future.
This is not just a Congolese issue. It’s a pan-African struggle for climate justice, for energy access, and for the right of communities to determine their own futures. A statement signed by communities and CSOs from the DRC (Kishasa, Inga, Matadi, Busanga, Luozi, Boma and Busanga), Congo Brazzaville, Namibia, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, South Africa, Cameroon, Togo, Kenya, Senegal and Uganda cites outstanding compensation issues from Inga 1 and Inga 2, high environmental and social risks to the Congo River and surrounding communities, inadequate community engagement, and the need for community-driven project alternatives.
We echo the demands of Congolese civil society in their petition for energy systems that prioritize communities, not corporations.
To learn more about the World Bank’s return to megadams, check out this civil society letter to the World Bank highlighting urgent concerns regarding the Bank’s continued support for major hydropower dams like Inga 3.
“Inga 3 is not a renewable energy solution for the DRC. It is an environmentally, socially and economically destructive project disguised as a solution to DRC’s energy poverty, while in reality it sacrifices local communities and ecosystems for the benefit of industry and mining, and for the benefit of neighbouring countries who will offtake the power”
Siziwe Mota Africa Program Director, International Rivers
Please reach out to:
Emmanuel Musuyu
Executive Secretary, CORAP
emmamus023@gmail.com
Apollinaire Nsoka Ngimbi
Chairperson of the Board of Directors, and Head of Advocacy for Initiative pour le Développement Local (IDEL)
nsongi67@gmail.com
Siziwe Mota,
Africa Program Director, International Rivers
siziwe@internationalrivers.org
Genny Ngende
Africa Program Senior Campaigner, International Rivers
genny@internationalrivers.org