The Malthusian lobby of environmental and other NGOs (“no good organizations") are making a last-ditch attempt to sabotage the completion of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, or EACOP (https://www.eacop.com/). Once completed, the EACOP promises to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that will fund industrialization and infrastructure, especially railways in the countries of Tanzania and Uganda.
The EACOP has been blacklisted by the European Union and Western financial institutions since commercially viable oil deposits were discovered in 2005, ostensibly because of the fake anti-CO2 climate change policy. The EU is the worst in this respect and in September 2022, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the EACOP project, calling for “the end of the extractive activities in protected and sensitive ecosystems.” The latest attack is being carried out by the Avaasta Foundation, which is dedicated to stopping these projects. It claims to be financed through donations from its 70 million supporters. In a circular release this week (https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/stop_this_monster_pipeline_2_3/?fpla ) they are soliciting funds to take the EACOP to court in London. They have hired the environmental and human rights firm of Leigh Day Solicitors. On the claim, EACOP has a registration in London. This effort might reach a court judgment, but is unlikely to stop the project.
EACOP is a joint African, French, and Chinese project. Its purpose is to transport crude from oil fields in Lake Albert in Uganda to the port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean in Tanzania. The project is being developed by the French company, Total Energies, and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). Planning for the 1,443 km pipeline, the longest electrically heated oil pipeline in the world, has been underway since 2017 and is more than 79% complete. The pipeline has to be heated to maintain the oil at 50°C for transportation because of the waxy content of the oil. Total Energies owns 62%, Uganda’s National Oil Company (UNOC) owns 15%, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation owns 15% and CNOOC 8%. Because it was blacklisted among Western financial institutions, it is being financed by the Ugandan subsidiary of South Africa’s Standard Bank Stanbic Bank Uganda, with Sinosure still advising on the project. In March 2025, African Export-Import Bank and KCB Bank Uganda Limited joined the financing deal. This is a project which forms a part of the pan-African effort to make Africa energy independent.
