Leaders Meet on Congo's Grand Inga Dam Project

Banks, businesses and representatives from several African nations are meeting in London today to kick-start plans for an $80bn hydroelectric power project in Congo, set to be the biggest in the world.

If the Grand Inga dam project goes ahead it could increase Africa’s power generation by more than one-third, generating 40GW of power.

Hosted by the World Energy Council (WEC), the meeting aims to facilitate the decision making process to allow the project to go forward on a 'sustainable and affordable basis'.

"We are trying to bring affordable, clean energy to the DRC and Africa," WEC head Gerald Doucet told Reuters.

The project has so far been met with many challenges including political insatiability due to a civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and problems meeting its massive costs. The project is not expected to be approved or rejected until 2014.

By staff writer