Djiboutian Finance Minister Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh on Sunday (January 20th) signed an agreement with his Ethiopian counterpart Sufian Ahmed for the construction of a water pipeline linking the two countries, Djibouti's La Nation reported.

Under the agreement, Djibouti will construct a pipeline to carry water from the Ethiopian town of Hadagala 70 kilometres to the Guelileh border crossing, then all the way to Djibouti City. Ethiopia will in turn share water without charge. The project will take an estimated 18 months to complete and will supply Djibouti with 100,000 cubic meters of water, an increase from its current rate of 20,000 cubic metres.

The agreement, signed during Ahmed's visit to Djibouti, is one of several co-operation accords to integrate the economies of the two countries, including the construction of a railway linking Mekelle in Ethiopia and Djibouti's Tadjourah port and the rehabilitation of the railway linking Addis Ababa and Djibouti City.