6 August 2013: The World Bank has approved a US$340 million hydroelectric project loan that will help provide 80 megawatts of power to 62 million people in Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

The Regional Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project has a total cost of US$468 million and will foster regional cooperation and stability amongst partner countries, improve national electricity supplies, reduce electricity costs and promote renewable energy.

The loan is part of a regional Great Lakes initiative that is itself part of a UN-brokered peace agreement aimed at ending conflict and crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and promoting regional economic development. The project has adopted a regional approach to infrastructure development, with the objectives of lowering costs, enabling joint management of the hydropower generation and transmission system, and demonstrating the mutual benefits through sharing of river waters as a catalyst for greater economic integration. [UN Press Release][World Bank Press Release]