Kenya and Ethiopia have reached a new agreement to gear up further the purchase of cheap hydropower from Addis Ababa. The hydropower project is worth an estimated $1.3 billion that will see Ethiopia export 400 Megawatts of power annually.
The Ministry of foreign affairs in Ethiopia said that the new deal targets to realise the aspirations of Kenya and Ethiopia for economic integration and regional development.
The project started in 2012, but Ethiopia has blamed Kenya for the delays even after several lenders allocated funds for the project. The World Bank approved $684 million for the power line in 2012- Kenya got $441 million of the share, and Ethiopia got $243 million.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) also approved $26 million to finance the 1000 km power line project.
The two countries have now finalised the operational guidelines and procedures and agreed to create interconnected power systems that will ensure the progress of both parties.
The system is an investment with a modern 500 Kilovolts line. It will be an essential vehicle for East Africa interconnection to integrate Power systems of five countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, under the Eastern African Power Pool (EAPP) Master Plan.
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