A new analysis shows that the developers of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, led by France’s TotalEnergies, are being forced to self-finance the project almost entirely. The analysis, part of a new Finance Risk Update from a coalition of African and International civil society organisations, shows that the companies have abandoned plans to raise 60% of the project’s growing costs from bank loans, and are now on the hook for almost 90% of the costs themselves.

The EACOP is under construction from Hoima in Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. While a recent “first tranche” of lending for the project was recently finalised, the analysis of EACOP Ltd.’s recent financial disclosures indicates this amounts to only $755 million in total. This means the project companies now need to finance the whole remainder of the project’s $5.6 billion total price tag themselves. This means Total and its partners (The China National Offshore Energy Corporation (CNOOC), and the national oil companies of Uganda and Tanzania) look set to sink more than three times their originally planned contribution of $1.4 billion into the project.

The EACOP has been rejected by almost all of Total’s biggest bankers, based on its extreme risks to communities and the region’s rich nature. Over 40 commercial banks have made clear they will not finance the project directly. As a result of the decision to self-finance the project, Total and its bankers and investors are far more exposed to the accelerating risks to communities, nature and climate being caused by the oil pipeline than was previously thought. 

The pipeline has been described by the project companies as over 60% complete. However, analysis of satellite imagery by EarthInsight shows less than 40% of the pipeline has been laid. The same analysis also shows roads cleared for the pipeline reaching the Victoria Nile riverbank, signalling an imminent, high-risk crossing of this river in an area that overlaps with protected wetlands and the Murchison Falls National Park. Well pads which will feed the pipeline are being constructed in the National Park, with tragic consequences for local people as vibrations from drilling rigs cause elephants to move to surrounding communities. The elephants are destroying cropland, and have killed at least five people in the area in 2023 and 2024.

The new Finance Risk Update, which details these impacts for financiers exposed to Total and CNOOC, is the sixth in a series which has been produced by a coalition of civil society groups led by BankTrack. It is endorsed by Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), Both ENDS, EarthInsight, Environment Governance Institute EGI-Uganda, Inclusive Development International, Just Share and Reclaim Finance.

As the project becomes more expensive for Total, its financiers become more exposed to its risks. Several banks including Citi, BBVA, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, MUFG, Royal Bank of Canada, Société Générale, and Wells Fargo underwrote bonds for TotalEnergies in March and June 2025 – money which may fund the construction of the EACOP, despite the banks’ commitments not to finance the project directly. The briefing warns that any additional bond issuances by the company could be critical sources of financing for EACOP.

“Ugandans need to concern themselves with the borrowing that the government is doing to invest in the EACOP and related oil projects. Forecasters have been warning that demand for combustible fossil fuels could peak as early as 2027. However, the Ugandan government is indebting poor citizens amidst this bleak outlook. Citizens must say enough is enough! They should demand that investments are made into green economic sectors as opposed to the oil industry,” said Diana Nabiruma, Senior Communications Officer at AFIEGO. 

“It’s clear that projects like EACOP come at an unbearable cost to people and nature. TotalEnergies’ growing self-financing is not a show of strength but a warning sign: when even the world’s largest banks walk away, it’s because the financial, social, and environmental risks are too great. Uganda and Tanzania deserve better investments, ones that uplift communities instead of deepening harm and inequality,” said Samuel Okulony, Director at Environment Governance Institute (EGI).

“Investors such as Amundi, BlackRock and Deutsche Bank that buy TotalEnergies’ new bonds, are providing critical support to finance its oil and gas projects, including EACOP. Any investor that wants to take meaningful action against climate chaos, environmental destruction and human rights violations must immediately commit to stop purchasing new bonds from TotalEnergies and other oil and gas majors,” said Antoine Bouhey, Defund TotalEnergies campaign coordinator at Reclaim Finance.

“It’s insulting to the public when a bank distances itself from a project like EACOP by refusing to fund it directly, only to provide a blank check to the project’s main backer TotalEnergies. Any new general-purpose loans or underwriting for Total can fund the EACOP and all its impacts. Banks funding the project, directly or indirectly, should be prepared to be held accountable for remedying these impacts,” said Ryan Brightwell, Human Rights Campaign Lead at BankTrack.

The EACOP Finance Risk Update can be downloaded here.
An accompanying Public Statement by the StopEACOP Coalition can be downloaded here.

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• Over 40 banks globally have ruled out finance for the controversial Uganda-Tanzania pipeline, including 28 European banks.
• Largest European banks not to have ruled out EACOP finance are Lloyds, UBS, Caixa Bank, Danske Bank, Sberbank and Commerzbank.

Last September, Uganda’s minister for hydrocarbons claimed that at least seven European banks have committed, in private, to finance TotalEnergies’ East African Crude Oil Pipeline project (EACOP) despite the extreme risk it poses to people and the environment. However, new engagement and policy analysis from BankTrack covering the 50 largest European banks shows a dwindling number of European banks candidates prepared to finance the project. In total, 28 banks headquartered in Europe have either publicly ruled out finance for the project, or have policies in place that would rule out finance for any new oil pipeline project. Globally, this total now stands at 42 banks.

While this sends a clear signal to the project sponsors that the project is beyond most banks’ risk appetite, a number of banks have not yet ruled out finance. The largest European banks that have so far not ruled out finance for the damaging project, in order of asset size, are: Lloyds (UK), UBS (Switzerland), Caixa Bank (Spain), Danske Bank (Denmark), Sberbank (Russia), Commerzbank (Germany) and SEB (Sweden).

Read the full press release from the StopEACOP campaign and BankTrack here.

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On June 4th 2024, Stephen Kwikiriza, a member of the Kingfisher community, was abducted in Kampala under alarming circumstances. The Kingfisher project is an oil project in western Uganda on the shores of Lake Albert, developed by the Chinese company China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), of which TotalEnergies is the main shareholder. The project will extract oil to be transported by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

Stephen went into town that morning. His wife later reported that he was abducted by the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF, Ugandan army) officers in plain clothes. He managed to send a text message to the Environmental Governance Institute (EGI), a local organization supporting project affected persons, confirming his arrest. No further communication has been received from Stephen since. All his known phone numbers are currently off. On June 5th 2024, Stephen’s wife reported the case of the missing person at the Seeta police station, but has yet to hear anything and still no information has been provided about him. The lawyers are finalizing an application for habeas corpus demanding all the security agencies in Uganda produce Stephen in court.

Stephen’s abduction follows previous threats he received from the UPDF deployed in Kingfisher, due to which he had been staying in an undisclosed safe location since mid-March. We are strongly concerned that the abduction of Stephen is a retaliation for speaking out against human rights abuses and threats to the livelihood of his community due to the Kingfisher oil project.

The abduction of Stephen fits into a broader pattern of indiscriminate violence against local communities, activists, students, journalists, and environmental groups speaking out against human rights abuses and threats to the environment due to oil projects in Uganda. On May 27^th, seven Stop EACOP activists were arrested outside the Chinese embassy in Kampala for holding a peaceful demonstration calling on China to stop plans to support EACOP. They were released on police bond and are still battling police cases. Again, on May 30 2024, a group of project affected community members protested and later presented a petition to Daqing Oilfield Construction Group, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned oil and gas giant China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), concerning the impacts of the project on their livelihoods. On June 3rd, one of them was arrested and detained in Kikuube police station while others managed to escape and remain on the run.

The signatories of this statement stand in solidarity with Stephen, EGI and Ugandan civil society organizations and urge the Ugandan authorities to:

• Immediately and unconditionally release Stephen Kwikiriza, as the undersigned believe that he was abducted and is being held solely as a result of his legitimate and peaceful work in defense of human rights and the environment.
• Ensure Stephen’s human rights are respected and, pending his release, ensure that the treatment of Stephen Kwikiriza adheres to the conditions set out in the ‘Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment’, adopted by the UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988.
• Cease all forms of harassment of civil society organisations and community members living in and speaking out on the EACOP Kingfisher project and all other related oil projects, including the Tilenga project, and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisal.
  
  

Signed,

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This incident follows a disturbing pattern of arbitrary arrests and intimidation aimed at individuals who express criticism of the EACOP project, which concerns us about the rights and safety of human rights and environmental defenders in Tanzania and elsewhere.

Inclusive Development International and other global human rights organizations are urging the Tanzanian government, international human rights organizations, as well as the leading companies involved in EACOP, TotalEnergies and CNOOC, to take action to uphold the rights of PAPs and activists. Read our full statement and complete list of supporters here.

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MUFG’s withdrawal follows that of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC Group), reinforcing the growing opposition to the pipeline. The StopEACOP campaign welcomes MUFG’s decision, underscoring the need for financial institutions like Standard Bank to follow suit and withdraw support for the project. With all three Japanese megabanks distancing themselves from EACOP, the spotlight now turns to Chinese lenders considering involvement in the project. Read the full press statement here.

The post Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Joins Growing List of Banks Distancing Themselves from East African Crude Oil Pipeline appeared first on Inclusive Development International.

This announcement is huge because SMBC also served as a financial advisor on EACOP. The coalition urges the remaining financial advisors, Standard Bank and ICBC, to emulate SMBC and disassociate themselves from the controversial pipeline. The StopEACOP coalition emphasizes the need for financial institutions to align their investments with sustainable and responsible solutions while advocating for transparency and a shift towards renewable energy alternatives. Read the full press release here.

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