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149 groups demand disclosure of $3.7bn EACOP financing – EnviroNews
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A coalition of 149 civil society organisations has demanded full disclosure of financing arrangements for the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), following revelations that African and Middle Eastern financial institutions provided or were linked to about $3.7 billion in project lending between 2025 and 2026.
The StopEACOP coalition made the demand in an open letter sent on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, to eight financial institutions, urging them to disclose the full extent of their involvement in the pipeline project linking Uganda’s oilfields to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast.
The letter, signed by organisations including groups representing communities affected by the pipeline, follows an analysis by financial research organisation Reclaim Finance that identified previously undisclosed lending associated with the project.
The institutions named include Afreximbank; KCB Group and KCB Bank Uganda; the Islamic Development Bank Group and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD); NMB Bank Tanzania; Qatar National Bank; Standard Bank Group and Stanbic Bank Uganda; and Uganda Development Bank.
The coalition is demanding transparency over the institutions’ financial exposure, an end to further funding for oil expansion and the establishment of an independent mechanism to provide remedies for communities affected by the project.
The campaign comes as Uganda pushes to commence commercial oil production by June 2027, following several delays to its first-oil target.
At African Energy Week, held from October 12 to 16, officials of the Uganda National Oil Company reportedly announced the revised production target. Previous deadlines had included 2025, June 2026 and July 2026.
Tanzania’s state petroleum company has separately indicated that the first crude oil shipments could reach the port of Tanga by February 2027, with the first tanker expected to load in March.
Banks face pressure over undisclosed financing
According to StopEACOP, more than 40 banks and 30 insurers have declined to support the pipeline or adopted policies restricting their involvement in the project.
The withdrawal of these institutions left African and Gulf lenders playing a significant role in covering the remaining financing requirements.
However, the coalition said only an initial portion of the financing involving Afreximbank, Standard Bank, Stanbic Bank Uganda, KCB Bank Uganda and ICD had been publicly confirmed by EACOP Ltd, without disclosure of the amounts involved.
The terms and financial exposure of other institutions, including NMB Bank Tanzania, Qatar National Bank and Uganda Development Bank, remain undisclosed, according to the campaigners.
The coalition is therefore calling on the eight institutions to publish details of the scope, structure and terms of their support, including any exposure through bonds, guarantees and advisory roles.
It also wants the lenders to commit publicly to providing no further financing for EACOP expansion or related oil development in Uganda’s Albertine Graben and elsewhere.
The third demand is for the institutions to contribute to remedying harm suffered by affected communities through an independent, community-led mechanism.
Such a mechanism, the coalition said, should provide compensation, restore livelihoods and support environmental cleanup, with EACOP Ltd and its financial backers contributing in proportion to their respective roles.
Communities demand accountability
StopEACOP Campaign Coordinator, Zaki Mamdoo, warned that the commencement of oil production would not end the harm associated with the project but could deepen its consequences for affected communities.
“First oil does not mark an end to the harm caused by EACOP. It escalates and entrenches it,” Mamdoo said.
He added that financial institutions that had committed billions of dollars to the project must publicly account for their decisions and accept responsibility for addressing the damage associated with their investments.
For communities along the pipeline route, the dispute over financing reflects concerns about land acquisition, compensation and the loss of livelihoods.
Rachael Tugume, a person affected by the EACOP project, said the loss of land had also deprived some families of their means of supporting themselves, while compensation had not enabled everyone to rebuild their lives.
“When they took our land, we lost more than the land itself. We lost the means to support our families. Compensation was supposed to help us rebuild our lives, but for some of us, that has not happened,” she said.
Tugume questioned whether the financial institutions supporting the pipeline understood the consequences experienced by communities whose land had been acquired for the project.
Her concerns reflect the coalition’s broader demand that lenders acknowledge the social costs associated with the pipeline and support measures to address outstanding grievances.
Campaigners warn of environmental and human rights risks
Antoine Bouhey, Defund TotalEnergies campaign coordinator at Reclaim Finance, said the institutions financing EACOP should be held accountable for the project’s reported effects on the climate, biodiversity, livelihoods and human rights.
He noted that numerous banks and insurers had already declined to support the project because of these concerns.
“The eight banks that have accepted to finance the project will be held accountable by civil society organisations for these impacts,” Bouhey said.
He called on the lenders to contribute to reparative justice for affected communities and rule out new financing for oil and gas expansion in Uganda and elsewhere.
The coalition warned that the risks associated with EACOP include land acquisition and compensation failures, lost livelihoods, militarisation and environmental damage along the pipeline route and at the Chongoleani terminal in Tanga, Tanzania.
It argued that these problems would not disappear when crude oil begins flowing through the pipeline and could intensify as the project moves into commercial operations.
Lenders given November 16 deadline
The eight financial institutions have been asked to clarify their positions by November 16, 2026.
StopEACOP said it would publish the institutions’ responses, as well as any failure to respond, after the deadline.
The disclosure demand comes at a critical stage for the project, as Uganda and Tanzania advance plans to bring the pipeline into operation following repeated delays to oil production and shipment timelines.
For the coalition, the issue extends beyond the financial arrangements underpinning EACOP to the responsibilities of lenders whose investments support major fossil fuel infrastructure.
The campaigners insist that financial transparency, commitments against further oil expansion and concrete remedies for affected communities must accompany any move towards commercial production.
Whether the institutions will disclose their financing arrangements or agree to the coalition’s demands remains to be seen
