The Inga–Shaba EHVDC Intertie (officially: The Inga–Shaba Extra High Voltage D.C. Intertie; nickname: Inga–Shaba and also referred to as Inga–Kolwezi) is a 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi)-long high-voltage direct current overhead electric power transmission line in the Democratic Republic of Congo, linking the Inga hydroelectric complex at the mouth of the Congo River to mineral fields in Shaba (Katanga).

However, construction progress was plagued by rebel insurgency in Southern Zaire, massive logistical challenges, large cost overruns, and financing delays.

By utilizing the hydroelectric potential of the Inga Dam and by constructing one switching station near Kinshasa at Selo, the Government of Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko was theoretically able to control the flow of power to secession-prone Katanga, then Shaba, province, but never actually exercised this option.

It was reported in La Libre Belgique, a Brussels newspaper, that Tractionel, a Belgian electrical contractor, had argued that more economical alternatives were available nearer Shaba, using low-head generator plants, but had been overlooked in favor of the American consortium, consisting of Morrison-Knudsen International as a prime contractor, and Swedish ASEA, Italian Sadelmi-Cogepi and Irish GE subsidiary as sub-contractors.

[3] As the Republic became more indebted to overseas financial entities, the Inga–Shaba Project ultimately accounted for approximately 20% of the former Zaire's debt burden, which totaled $5 billion at the time, according to various credible sources.

This scheme, equipped from the outset with thyristor valves provided by Swedish subcontractor ASEA, was designed to transmit 560 megawatts, in the first phase, at a symmetrical bipolar voltage of ±500 kilovolts.