China and Spain have signed a $14 billion deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo for the development of hydroelectric project.
The much awaited Inga project along the Congo River has been delayed for about three decades.
The Inga 3 project is expected to complement two ageing power stations built between 1972 and 1982 on the Inga falls of the Congo River 260 kilometres (160 miles) downstream from the capital Kinshasa.
Head of the project Bruno Kpandji revealed last year that the project will take eleven years to complete.
When completed, the Inga dam will generate 4,800 megawatts of power and boost access to electricity which currently stands at 10 percent, one of the lowest on the continent.
South Africa reportedly signed an option to buy power generated by the project, with much of the rest planned for mining groups in Katanga in the south east which suffers from chronic electricity shortages.
The World Bank in 2016, cancelled a planned disbursements of a $73.1 million grant aimed at funding technical assistance in DR Congo.
DRC Congo is the largest Francophone country in Africa, with vast natural resources. It has nearly 77 million inhabitants, fewer than 40% of whom live in urban areas.
With 80 million hectares of arable land and over 1,100 minerals and precious metals, the DRC has the potential to become one of the richest countries on the continent and a driver of African growth if it can overcome its political instability.
Source: Africafeeds.com
