KINSHASA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have entered into an agreement that will see the country receive a grant of 15.53 million U.S. dollars to fund a hydroelectric project.

    Signed Thursday in the capital Kinshasa, the funds provided through the memorandum agreement will be used to carry out a study on the development of the site of the Inga hydroelectric power plant in Bas-Congo and the associated electrical interconnections.

    Speaking after signing the agreement, DR Congo's Deputy Finance Minister Cesar Lubamba said that the provision of the funds was marking the culmination of a long process that was initiated in 2006.

    The two sides, said the deputy minister, had organized a number of round tables to discuss the national and international dimensions in the development of the Inga hydroelectric power plant with the assistance of the AfDB.

    The minister welcomed the signing of the latest agreement, "which is in addition to the long list of financing granted in favor of the DR Congo during this period of reconstruction and revival of economic activities."

    Furthermore, Lubamba stressed that the agreement was strategic as it sought to address both the domestic and international aspects associated with the Inga project, which was one of the greatest hydroelectric power projects in the world.

    At the national level, the study, which will be financed by theAfDB, will provide an insight into how the great potential of the Inga dam could be harnessed to contribute to the materialization of the government's strategy for growth and poverty reduction, said Lubamba.

    Situated strategically in the heart of the African continent, once completed, the Inga power project, whose first phase is expected to produce up to 6,000 megawatts, will become one of the greatest such projects in the world.

    The project, which has so far attracted the participation of many Southern African countries, has been touted by experts as one of sustainable solutions to the energy crisis that is bedeviling the African continent.