DR Congo: Prepaid meters aim to improve Snel’s finances

State utility Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel) aims to improve its dire financial situation by increasing the number of prepaid meters. An initial scheme in 1990 failed because Snel acquired 6,000 meters but no management system, and then staff who had been trained to install and check them left the company. Another project was launched in 2011, with the installation of 8,000 meters, including 6,000 in Kinshasa in the Cité Verte and Cité Maman Mobutu neighbourhoods, and 2,000 in Lubumbashi in the Golf and Carrefour districts. These mostly worked well, although some army officers and high-ranking officials refused to accept their installation. While technically the system works, tariffs are too low to be cost reflective, and fraud remains a significant problem.