The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has taken a major step toward improving its electricity sector through a recent workshop focused on regulatory reforms. From September 21 to 25, 2026, the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ARE) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) organized a stakeholder meeting in Kinshasa as part of the Technical Assistance to the Energy Sector in Africa (AESTAP) program. The event brought together experts from the Congolese Ministry of Water Resources and Electricity, the ARE, the National Electricity Company (SNEL), private operators, and public institutions. The discussions centered on three key areas: analyzing the cost of electricity services, harmonizing the method for setting tariffs, and establishing a regulatory framework for connecting to the power grid. Callixte Kambanda, head of the Energy Policy, Regulation, and Statistics Division at the AfDB, emphasized that effective economic regulation is crucial for attracting investments, ensuring the sector's sustainability, and improving the quality of electricity services. Through AESTAP, the AfDB is helping the DRC build the tools and capacity needed to turn regulatory reforms into real benefits for the population. One of the main outcomes of the workshop was a study conducted by the SNEL, which aims to provide the regulator with better tools to analyze the real costs of electricity services, track changes in demand, and determine the revenues needed by operators. The study recommends a gradual rollout of a clear and fair tariff system that protects household budgets while ensuring the profitability of infrastructure for producing, transmitting, and distributing electricity. Soraya Aziz-Moto, director general of the ARE, said the study gives essential tools to understand sector costs, how demand is changing, and the impact of different tariff choices. This contributes to more transparent, predictable, and consumer-focused regulation. The study also aims to improve the sector's financial health, make it more attractive to investors, and create better conditions for expanding infrastructure for producing, transmitting, and distributing electricity. Mohamed Cherif, AfDB country representative in the DRC, noted that the work goes beyond technical issues like tariffs and grid connections. It includes a broader reflection on how the DRC can build a well-regulated and financially viable electricity sector capable of attracting investments to expand electricity access across the country. The study also highlights the unique structure of SNEL's customer base. According to the company's 2024 annual report, it had nearly a million billed customers and sold about 10,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, mostly in high voltage. While low-voltage subscribers make up more than 99% of SNEL's portfolio, the majority of energy consumption is concentrated among a small number of large industrial consumers using high voltage. This situation underscores the need for more accurate data to better predict national energy demand. The study recommends implementing a simple and practical tariff framework before moving to more complex mechanisms as data collection and institutional capacity improve. This initiative aligns with Mission 300, a joint effort between the AfDB and the World Bank to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030.