By Katrina Manson
KINSHASA (Reuters) - India has signed a deal with Democratic Republic of Congo to extend a $42 million credit line for building a hydroelectric plant, Congolese and Indian officials said on Thursday.
The deal falls under a $263 million loan commitment from India that it agreed with Congo late last year.
Congo, which won $8 billion of debt relief granted by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month, is looking to Asia to help rebuild its infrastructure after years of corrupt dictatorship and a devastating 1998-2003 war.
The deal marks the third loan from India, following $25 million for 3,000 water pumps and $33.5 million for 346 Indian-made buses and a cement plant last year.
"These are good terms at very small rates of interest," Nadeem Panjetan, general manager of Export-Import Bank of India, told Reuters on Thursday, in reference to the deal which requires Congo to source 75 percent of goods and services from India and tender an Indian firm to do the work.
Congo will only start repaying after five years, and then will pay 1.75 percent interest over 20 years, he said, adding the bulk of labourers are likely to be Congolese.
The Kakobola hydroelectric plant, in the country's western Bandundu province, will cater for more than 1.9 million people, energy minister Gilbert Tshiongo said on Thursday. Reuters Africa
