The World Bank's board on Thursday approved a $73 million grant to help the Democratic Republic of Congo develop an expansion of the Inga hydroelectric dam, potentially the largest hydropower site in the world.

 

The money, combined with another $33 million from the African Development Bank, will fund technical studies to analyze the dam's environmental and social impact and ensure it is sustainable, the World Bank said in a statement.

 

The grant will also help establish the independent Inga Development Authority, which is meant to follow best international practices in managing the project and selecting private companies to help fund it, the bank said.

 

The World Bank ranks Congo among the world's 10 most difficult places to do business. For decades, projects to expand the Inga dam never got off the ground due to conflict and misrule. And environmental groups warn large dam projects are known for long delays and budget overruns.

 

The World Bank, a poverty-fighting institution based in Washington, estimates that Congo has 100 gigawatts of hydropower potential, the world's third largest behind China and Russia.

 

But only 9 percent of Congo's 65 million people have access to electricity, and the mining sector on which the economy relies has been hamstrung by lack of power.

 

But now a deal with South Africa to buy electricity from Inga has revived talk of the giant hydro project, which could harness the Congo River's enormous energy to eventually power half of Africa. Three international consortiums are bidding for the contract to build the dam, known as Inga III, and sell the power it generates, estimated at 4,800 MW.

 

This is nearly three times the amount of power produced from Inga's two existing dams, which are decades old and have been crippled by neglect, government debt and risk-averse investors.