Eastern Africa CSOs urge financiers of EACOP to reconsider and invest in green industries

Over 51 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from Uganda, Tanzania, and DRC have called upon financing banks yet to commit their participation to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project to reconsider their prospects and channel their investment to green industry to prevent the effects of the projects to the environment and lives of people in East Africa and beyond.

The call follows an announcement made by the banks to close the agreement for the first tranche of financing needed for the EACOP project.

“Financiers who are yet to commit and are considering participating in the project should desist from doing so. Instead of funding East Africans' destruction, they should finance their prosperity through investing in green industries.  Should financial institutions continue to prioritize profits over the lives and wellbeing of East Africans, legal and other actions could be considered against them,” the statement reads in part.

This was revealed in a joint statement signed by the CSOs from different countries in East Africa.

“It is unfortunate that banks, which claim to be working towards the prosperity of African people, are financing projects such as the EACOP that will worsen the climate crisis, have caused the displacement of tens of thousands of people, stand to worsen biodiversity loss, and are a threat to livelihoods in the agricultural, business and tourism among sectors” the statement partly reads.

“Stanbic Bank Uganda, you’re funding a project that threatens Uganda’s water sources, biodiversity & the livelihoods of millions. Even major banks have refused to touch EACOP- why are you still involved” an X statement from AFIEGO reads

ED AFIEGO Dickens Kamugisha making his remarks at a panel presentation on health, safety & the Environment recently

The CSOs' statement disclosed a number of incidents caused by the impacts of climate change in different places, including Uganda and Tanzania.

“In the wee hours of March 26, 2025, unrelenting rainfall battered the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA), and the city experienced immense flooding. Seven people, including two children, were reported to have died from the floods. In Tanzania, landslides in Hanang District, one the EACOP-affected districts, on December 2-3, 2023, killed at least 89 people.   In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), dry weather conditions in January and February 2025 affected parts of the country with an effect on agricultural investments and fishing production,” reads the statement

The mentioned five banks that the EACOP Company says are part of the deal to provide the first tranche of financing include the African Export and Import (Afrexim) Bank, Standard Bank from South Africa, and Stanbic Bank Uganda. Others include KCB Bank Uganda and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.

The EACOP, a pipeline whose full value chain carbon emissions over 25 years are estimated at over 379 million metric tons of carbon.

The CSOs championing this cause include the following:

Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), Uganda, Environment Governance Institute Uganda (EGI), Uganda, Center for Environment Research and Agricultural Innovations (CERAI), Uganda, Women on Environment Mission (WEM), Uganda, Initiative for Green Planet (IGP), Uganda, Youth for Green Communities (YGC), Uganda, Center for Conservation and Ecoenergy Initiative (CCEI), Uganda,  Strategic Response on Environment Conservation (STREC), Uganda, Liberty Pro Bono initiative (LPI), Uganda, Activists for Climate Justice Initiative (A4C), Uganda, Africa Initiative on Food Security and Environment (AIFE), Uganda, East African Crude Oil Pipeline Host Communities (EACOP HC), Uganda, Organization for Community Engagement, Tanzania, Earth Care Foundation, Tanzania, Kigoma Development Organization, Tanzania, Green Conservers, Tanzania, Climate Justice Coalition, Tanzania, Alerte Congolaise pour l'environnement et les droits de l'homme (ACEDH), DR Congo, Fédération des Comités des Pêcheurs du Lac Albert (FECOPELA), DR Congo, Cadre de Concertation sur les Ressources Naturelles (CdC/RN), DR Congo, Forum des Engagés pour le Développement Durable (FORED), DR Congo  among others.

Floods in a Kampala suburb.