KINSHASA (Reuters) - China has signed a $367 million deal to build a hydroelectric dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Chinese embassy in the central African country said.
The country's ambassador to Congo signed off on the contract with the Congolese government on January 29, according to a news release from the embassy.
The Central Zongo II project in Bas-Congo province, will be undertaken by Sinohydro, the company behind the Three Gorges Dam in China. When completed it is hoped the dam will produce 860 gigawatts of electricity per annum.
The work is expected to create 2,000 jobs during its three-year construction phase and is funded using preferential loans from the China Exim bank, the statement added.
Congo -- which is trying to rebuild after decades of political misrule and conflict -- entered into a $6 billion minerals-for-infrastructure deal with China last year.
