KINSHASA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank has granted 1.2 billion U.S. dollars to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in development aid, its managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Friday.

    At the end of a visit to the country, she told a press conference that the World Bank has granted 1.2 billion dollars to help finance projects in agriculture, forestry, water, energy, mining, infrastructure and other fields over the next three years.

    Among the fund, 300 million dollars will be paid this year, she said.

    The DRC is still recovering from a five-year war, which broke out in 1998 and killed some 2.5 million people.