Lake Kongo
Lake Kongo is a major geographical feature in Reichskommissariat Zentralafrika. It was formed by the damming of the Congo River, which flows through Zentralafrika and previously was the western border of the Belgian Congo.
Conception
The concept of damming the Congo river has often been proposed as a solution for refilling Lake Chad, a different lake in the middle of the Sahara desert. The theory is that by overflowing the Congo basin, water would overflow into a river that feeds the lake, and thus would put more water into the now-draining Saharan lake. It was first historically proposed in conjunction with Herman Sörgel's Atlantropa project as a way of irrigating the Sahara desert and readying that territory for more proper colonization efforts rather than simply settllng the North African coast.
In current TNO canon, Atlantropa was shelved following the Italo-German Split; the Lake Kongo project, however, was either constructed before the split or the concept was realized as incredibly profitable, given that it would not only provide significant energy generation potential but also increase the number of shipping lanes accessible to companies operating out of Zentralafrika, famed for its extremely rich resources.
Role in-game
Lake Kongo serves as an obstacle during both the South African War (if it turns significantly to the OFN's favor) but more particularly during the Congolese Civil War, making movement through the region much more difficult with the significant number of river crossings as well as a highly shortened front.