The UAE is to construct an oil pipeline connecting Ethiopia to the port of Assab in Eritrea, according to state media and cited by the AFP.
The deal was apparently made during discussions in Addis Ababa between Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and UAE Minister of International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy.
Ethiopian state-affiliated media has not put forward details on the specifics of the contract.
Ethiopia had previously utilised an oil refinery in Assab for its domestic oil requirements prior to a two-year war with Eritrea over a border dispute, which commenced in 1998 and caused the deaths of around 80,000 people.
In June, Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced he would finally accept a 2002 UN-backed border delineation, hastening the opportunity for peace between the two nations.
Positive communication and visits by the two countries’ leaders has resulted in renewed travel between capital cities, the re-opening of embassies and telephone lines.
