NEW YORK — New technology that would boost the Congo economy could help alleviate food shortages and increase the production of biofuels that could ultimately be exported to Europe, a researcher said Tuesday.
The Congo-based International Finance Corporation and its partners are developing a system of “biomass-powered” microfinance, which they believe could provide a significant boost to the Congo’s food production.
In a press release, IFC chief executive and co-founder Rene Jorgensen said the system is the “first step toward creating the sustainable economic growth in the region,” which would help fuel the nation’s transition to a new and more sustainable development model.
“We believe that biofuel technologies can be the engine that can power this new sustainable economic model in the African continent, allowing the Congolese to achieve the ambitious goal of becoming a $10 billion economy,” Jorgensen said.
Biomass fuels are a type of biofuel used to convert wood into fuel, wood chips into biofuice, or sugar to make ethanol.
They are currently used by nearly 40 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has the world’s third largest mineral wealth.
According to IFC, the new technology would enable the Congos to produce enough fuel to meet demand for about two weeks.
It would also allow the Congo to export its fuel-based biofuices, which are currently sold in Europe and Asia.
It is the second project to be launched under the new economic governance framework, which will be implemented in 2018.
A total of $3.5 billion has been allocated to the economic governance program since its launch in December 2014.
The funds will be used to implement the new governance framework that will guide the countrys economic transition to economic governance, the IFC said.