From its source in the Ethiopian Highlands near Mizan Teferi it flows west for 434 kilometres (270 mi) to join the Pibor River.

This boundary was consummated in the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902, resulting in an area in the Ethiopian Gambela Region called the Baro Salient.

[5] The Baro Salient is more closely connected to South Sudan than Ethiopia, both in terms of natural features and people.

The Baro Salient was used as a sanctuary by Sudanese insurgents during the country's long civil wars.

In 1939, engineers of Companies Mineralia Ethiopia (COMINA) carried out exploration of the Akobo and its tributaries.