The Strategic Investment Fund of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FIS-RDC), Enterprise Power DRC (EnPower), Trafigura and Gridworks Development Partners have signed a strategic framework agreement to jointly finance, build and operate a 200 km high-voltage power line connecting Kalumbila, Zambia, with Kolwezi, in the DRC.

The Kalumbila-Kolwezi Interconnector Project (KKIP) is expected to strengthen the DRC's connection to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), the regional body that links national grids and allows countries to trade power across borders.

The project has reached the final stage of development, with all necessary concessions, licences and authorisations secured.

It has an estimated construction cost of $300-million.

KKIP aims to deliver benefits on both sides of the border, with a new source of reliable, affordable power for the DRC’s mining and industrial sectors, and new export capacity and transmission opportunities for Zambian power producers.

The line will have a thermal capacity of 700 MW, enabling up to 550 MW of competitively priced electricity to be imported into the Copperbelt mining region of the DRC.

The line design allows for a future capacity increase to over 1 GW.

FIS-RDC, EnPower and Gridworks have confirmed their intention to invest equity in KKIP, with Gridworks as lead equity investor and majority shareholder.

The parties are in discussions with Zambian entities about taking a stake in the project.

EnPower is the project developer, a licensed Congolese power trader and a SAPP member.

Gridworks is a specialist transmission and distribution developer owned and funded by British International Investment, the UK government’s development finance institution. Trafigura, present in the global commodities industry, has agreed to arrange a significant share of the project’s debt financing.

For FIS-RDC, the transaction supports the DRC government’s objective of investing in strategic infrastructure with wider economic benefits.

It is the first investment announced by FIS-RDC since its creation in October 2025.

“KKIP is the fund’s inaugural transaction, and it reflects precisely the mandate entrusted to us by the government. By helping close the Copperbelt’s power deficit, the project will unlock industrial growth, skilled jobs and fiscal revenue for the DRC,” says FIS-RDC CEO Emile Osumba.

“This agreement is an important milestone towards executing this strategic transmission infrastructure, which will add significant capacity to meet the ever-growing power demand of the DRC mining industry.

“We are grateful to the authorities, stakeholders and communities in the DRC and Zambia, as well as the International Finance Corporation, for their support to KKIP, which will be the first privately developed and financed cross-border transmission infrastructure on the African continent,” says EnPower MD Marc Orphanides.

“Trafigura is proud to support this landmark power project in the DRC, part of our broader power strategy in Africa. Reliable, competitively priced power is a critical enabler of economic growth across the continent, and Trafigura is well placed to bring together the investment, infrastructure and partnerships needed to make these projects a reality.

“KKIP has the potential to unlock industrial growth in the DRC and Zambia, while also supporting job creation and local communities in both countries,” says Trafigura metals and minerals global head Gonzalo De Olazaval.

“Gridworks is proud to be the lead equity investor in KKIP. This is an important regional integration project. Zambia and the DRC both stand to benefit from closer interconnection, and this project will give the Copperbelt access to reliable, competitively priced power and lay the foundation for further cross-border transmission investment across Southern Africa,” says Gridworks CEO Chris Flavin.