Ethiopia to approve Djibouti water agreement

The deal will allow Djibouti to receive over 100,000 cubic meters of water daily from Ethiopia

 Ethiopia’s parliament this month is expected to approve a bilateral agreement calling for the development and transfer of groundwater from eastern Ethiopia to Djibouti.

“The agreement has been referred to a pertinent parliamentary committee, which is expected to approve it within the coming 20 days or so,” Parliament Information Officer Namssy Alka told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

Namssy said the agreement had been signed between Ethiopia and Djibouti in 2013.

“However, it has not yet been endorsed by parliament,” he added.

The deal will allow Djibouti to receive over 100,000 cubic meters of water daily from Ethiopia.

Under the agreement’s terms, Djibouti will install a 70km-long pipeline from the proposed project area with which to import water from Ethiopia.

Dijbouti plans to export its surplus water to Kuwait.

Last April, a Swiss water company and a Kuwaiti delegation held talks with Ethiopian officials on potential water development and transfer schemes.

june 5,2014