Newton Sibanda
March 01, 2017
ZAMBIA and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are in the process of establishing the Luapula River Authority (LRA) to manage shared water resources between the two countries.
Zambia’s Minister of Energy David Mabumba said the riparian states are discussing the establishment an authority to manage the Luapula River joint resource.
“The Luapula River which is shared with the DRC has immense hydro potential which both countries want to tap but coming up with an authority will enable us utilize the water resource effectively.
“So we are in discussions with that country and very soon we will travel to Kinshasa (DRC capital) to finalise documents to come up with a special purpose vehicle to look after the water resource,” Mr Mabumba.
He said Zambia wanted to realize 1000 megawatts (MW) from the Luapula River Hydro-Power Project estimated to cost US$4 billion.
Zambia and Zimbabwe have the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) to manage water resources in the Zambezi River which is shared by the two countries.
