By East Africa
Opposition has mounted on the plan by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) project.
The opposition is coming mainly from some 100 civil society organisations (CSOs) who have written a petition to the bank.
Uganda and Tanzania are seeking AfDB to finance the stalled pipeline project.
In the letter the CSOs raised the project’s potentially damaging environmental, climatic and social impact, which they say are irreparable.
The multinational CSOs from both host countries, also launched an online petition against plans by Standard Bank, through its subsidiary Stanbic Uganda, and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) to jointly raise a $2.5 billion loan to revive the Eacop project.
In the letter to Mr Adesina dated March 19, 2020, the lobbyists described the proposed pipeline as “exceptionally high-risk”.
The major risk is fossil fuel expansion, particularly how the resulting emissions could harm the surrounding farming communities in both countries.
The 1,445-kilometre pipeline from Hoima, Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania is set to be the longest heated pipeline in the world, carrying an estimated 216,000 barrels of crude oil per day through heavily populated districts in both countries.
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