BRUSSELS, April 23 (Reuters) - The European Union launched on Monday a 347 million-euro ($470.8 million) trust fund to disburse aid for infrastructure in Africa to help build road, rail, energy, water and telecoms networks.

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU's soft lending arm, will provide 260 million euros of low-interest loans, with a focus on cross-border projects under the terms of an accord signed on Monday, the European Commission said in a statement.

The Commission plus Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will provide the additional 87 million euros in grants.

Funding for projects such as a hydro-electric power station serving Senegal, Mali and Mauritania could start in the coming weeks, European Commission aid spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said.

The European Union announced the fund more than a year ago but time was needed to prepare it and start selecting projects, Altafaj said.

EU countries are aiming to boost aid spending to 0.56 percent of gross national income by 2010, up from 0.42 percent now, and to 0.7 percent by 2015. They have also agreed that half the increase in aid would go towards Africa.

Aid from EU member states and the Commission reached $69 billion in 2006, more than half the total of the world's major 22 industrial countries which hit $103.9 billion last year according to OECD figures.

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