The Ethiopian government has denied signing any deal with Kenya for the construction of an oil pipeline as had widely been reported.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas Tollosa Shagi dismissed reports indicating that during Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s state visit to Kenya, an agreement to build a pipeline from Lamu to Addis Ababa was reached.
“We did not sign pipeline construction deal. This is utterly an erroneous report,” Shagi was quote.According to the Minister, Kenya just presented a proposal of the project but an official deal was not inked.
“A proposal was presented to us but this is not something that we jump into abruptly. We need to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility. Our legal experts have to assess the proposal,” stated Shagi.
However, the government official hinted that a deal could be signed by the end of 2016 but only after a thorough evaluation of the proposal.
“We will hold more talks and may ink a deal if we find the project proposal to be economically and technically sound. But I can confirm to you that we did not sign a pipeline construction agreement,” the Minister added.
After the State visit by PM Desalegn, reports emerged that a big deal had been signed which would see the two countries collaborate in constructing the pipeline.
Following the visit, State House stated: “The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn departed our country on Friday after a very fruitful three–day State Visit during which he held talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta on a number of bilateral issues. Widely reported was the deal on the oil pipeline linking Lamu to Addis Ababa”.