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Thursday, October 29, 2026
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Home（https://financialcongo.com/） Business（https://financialcongo.com/category/business/） Diesel Drought Pushes Congo’s Telecoms to the Edge
Business（https://financialcongo.com/category/business/）
Diesel Drought Pushes Congo’s Telecoms to the Edge
by Daniel Mbemba（https://financialcongo.com/writer/daniel-mbemba/） October 27, 2026
by Daniel Mbemba（https://financialcongo.com/writer/daniel-mbemba/） October 27, 2026
6
The fuel shortage that has been weighing on the economy of the Republic of Congo has now reached one of its most sensitive arteries. In a statement released on 27 October, the Regulatory Agency for Posts and Electronic Communications (ARPCE) acknowledged that electronic communications networks open to the public are suffering disruptions across all or part of the national territory, as the diesel needed to run standby generators grows scarce. Voice calls, internet access and Mobile Money are all affected, and the regulator’s assessment leaves little room for complacency.
An energy equation that no longer balances
ARPCE’s diagnosis rests on two converging failures: a deficient public electricity supply, and backup generators that can no longer take over once diesel runs out. Checks conducted by the regulator with the operators indicate that grid power reaches telecom installations for an average of nine hours a day, while backup batteries offer around six hours of autonomy. For the rest of each day, the equipment depends on generators, and therefore on the very fuel that is now lacking.
“Energy is indispensable to the proper functioning of telecommunications infrastructure,” the agency stated, citing relay antennas, technical centres and transmission equipment among the components concerned.
Helios Towers and the scale of the fuel requirement
The figures reported for a single infrastructure manager convey the size of the challenge. Helios Towers, which operates 550 relay antennas across the country, needs approximately 100,000 litres of diesel per week to power the generators at its sites, or roughly 400,000 litres a month. Under present conditions, a volume of that order appears difficult to guarantee.
For an industry whose continuity of service hinges on such quantities, a disruption in fuel logistics translates almost mechanically into a disruption of the network itself.
How the failure spreads from core to periphery
The damage is not confined to the sites left without power. According to ARPCE, generalised electricity cuts, compounded by the scarcity of diesel, are severely affecting technical sites, network cores and data centres. Because rural infrastructure depends on central equipment installed in the major cities, the breakdown propagates in cascade: once the centre falters, outlying areas go dark.
Mobile Money and the cost to commerce
For subscribers, the crisis takes two forms. The first is the partial or total unavailability of the voice, internet and Mobile Money services provided over mobile networks. The second is a marked deterioration in quality of service, ranging from difficulty in accessing the network to interrupted communications and depressed data speeds. For several days now, users have been experiencing calls cut off mid-sentence, sluggish connections and blocked transactions.
The economic impact is immediate. Traders, households and companies that have made the telephone and mobile payments an extension of their activity are directly exposed to these interruptions. The regulator has cautioned that the disruptions will persist for as long as the energy situation fails to improve, a warning that offers businesses limited visibility over the coming period.
Government and the national oil company drawn in
On the institutional side, the ministry responsible for telecommunications has brought the situation to the attention of the Prime Minister’s Office. ARPCE, for its part, reports that it is working in close collaboration with the Société nationale des pétroles du Congo, the national oil company, in order to optimise fuel supply and safeguard the continuity of essential services.