By Joe Bavier

KINSHASA, March 9 (Reuters) - The World Bank has pledged $180 million in grants to revamp Democratic Republic of Congo's dilapidated capital, Kinshasa, under new proceedures for countries in most urgent need, the bank's chief said on Friday. Congo held its first democratic elections in more than four decades last year and many Congolese hope the ballot will usher in a new era of prosperity and stability after years of mismanagement and armed conflict.

"We need to move fast, much faster than we normally do in long-term development programmes that have a six-year time horizon," World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz told journalists at the end of a two-day visit to the vast, mineral-rich central African nation.

"The people of this country have suffered too much. They need to see the results of peace. They need to see them in six months, not in six years," he said.

Congo is recovering from a 1998-2003 war that killed an estimated 4 million people through conflict-related violence, hunger, and disease. Much of the country's already neglected infrastructure was destroyed or pillaged during the war years.

The World Bank grants target building or improving basic infrastructure in Kinshasa, which, despite having never been the scene of major fighting, is largely in ruins.

The city, with its estimated population of around 7 million, experiences daily power outages.

Potholed streets are transformed into muddy canyons during the lengthy rainy season and neglect of water and sewage systems leads to periodic outbreaks of cholera and other diseases.

Despite living atop massive mineral reserves, most Congolese live in poverty.

Wolfowitz said the grant, to be issued later this month, is part of a new programme to streamline World Bank bureaucracy to better cope with the most pressing humanitarian situations.

"We are changing our procedures to be able to respond much more rapidly than we have in the past. We have, in fact, gotten our board to approve a whole new set of procedures for countries in emergency situations," Wolfowitz said.

Government programmes announced last month by Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga are expected to cost cash-strapped Congo around $14 billion over the next five years. Around 51 percent is due to be financed by international donors.

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