A French Firm’s Controversial Oil Project in Africa: EACOP

 Each year the world gathers for climate conferences and adopts measures aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change. Moving away from fossil fuels and investing in clean energy are supposed to be among those commitments.

Yet the major oil and gas companies have little intention of abiding by those decisions. They resist calls to halt the expansion of coal, oil and gas production; and they mostly ignore the fact that much of the environmental damage they help cause will be felt in Africa — a region that has contributed relatively little to global emissions.

According to Oil Change International, only about 33% of oil and gas production in Africa is controlled by African companies. The lion’s share of production remains in the hands of big firms from the global north. European companies alone account for around 36% of the continent’s fossil-fuel projects.

Although Africa exports more energy than it consumes, the profits rarely flow to local populations. Global corporations extract huge revenues from these projects without paying their fair share, while African communities face the costs: climate impacts, soil degradation, and damage to agriculture and livestock.

One of the largest and most controversial fossil-fuel projects now under development is the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). Despite fierce opposition from local communities and civil-society groups, the project is moving forward. Its major shareholders include French oil giant TotalEnergies, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), Uganda National Oil Company, and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation.

Known also as the Uganda–Tanzania Crude Oil Pipeline, EACOP is designed to transport crude oil from Lake Albert in Uganda to the port of Tanga on Tanzania’s coast, and from there to international markets.

TotalEnergies — one of France’s largest corporate champions — is a prime example of the new colonial-style extractive model at work in Africa. While these projects are sold on the grounds that they create jobs and transfer technical know-how, they too often exploit vulnerable communities and wreak environmental havoc.

The Paris Agreement of 2015 — signed and hosted by France — aims to limit emissions, strengthen adaptation, and finance climate action. Yet projects such as EACOP indicate that some signatory countries and the companies active within them are undermining that pact. Both Tanzania and Uganda, as host states, are effectively facilitating this breach.

TotalEnergies first stepped into Africa in 1956. Since then the company has been a driving force in the exploitation of the continent’s resources and has made enormous profits. Today, the centenarian French oil major is among Africa’s largest hydrocarbon producers: it holds a 24% stake in the Egina field in Nigeria, a 30% stake in Angola’s Kaombo offshore project, and a 53.5% stake in Congo’s Moho Nord project — the largest project yet initiated in that country. And Total continues to pursue exploration across the continent.

What threats do oil and gas projects pose to local areas?

EACOP faces strong opposition from local communities and human-rights and environmental groups around the world. Campaigns such as #StopEACOP call on prospective financiers and insurers to withdraw support.

Just Share, a South African shareholders’ organization, estimates that oil pumped through EACOP would release roughly 34.3 million tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere every year — nearly seven times the combined annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania.

The pipeline is slated to cross areas of high ecological value, including national parks and wildlife reserves. Spills, inadequate waste management, and other pollution risks will inflict severe damage on soils, water, air and local biodiversity.

Already tens of thousands of people living along the pipeline route have been displaced from their land and homes. Many were farmers and pastoralists who relied on that land for their livelihoods; compensation has been delayed, and in many cases payments have been far lower than promised.

First Africans should resist: the oil curse

It is understandable that Western governments and corporations show little hesitation in pursuing fossil-fuel projects — they reap vast profits while passing the bill onto populations they frequently regard as expendable. But why do some African leaders remain silent? Why do governments that have observed the “resource curse” in other countries ignore the lessons?

When Members of the European Parliament called for EACOP to be halted, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni defended the project, arguing that oil wealth would create jobs, lift millions out of poverty, transfer technology, strengthen infrastructure — in short, transform Uganda into a middle-income country.

Yet Uganda and Tanzania each hold only 15% of the project. Total owns 62% of EACOP, while China’s state-owned CNOOC holds 8%. That means the major share of benefits will flow to foreign corporations, not to local communities.

African leaders appear to have been lured by honeyed promises from the developers, while ignoring long-term costs and risks. The continent must heed the painful experiences of other oil-producing countries — especially Nigeria — where newfound resource wealth too often translates into more conflict, greater inequality and stunted economic diversification.

Empirical evidence shows that countries with major new oil, gas or mineral finds frequently suffer more conflict than comparable neighbours; economic instability and slower, less inclusive growth often follow. When capital and labour concentrate in a single extractive sector, the rest of the economy atrophies.

In short, the large oil, gas and mining projects so skilfully marketed by global powers too often become a curse rather than a blessing for African peoples.

Sources:
https://africanarguments.org/2024/03/totalenergies-at-100-a-legacy-of-destruction-in-africa/
https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/blog/54718/clean-game-dirty-money-totalenergies-sportswashing-in-africa-called-out/
https://www.boell.de/en/2022/11/02/eacop-oil-pipeline-more-curse-blessing#_ftn25
https://icintelligence.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Insight-IC_0722_intelligence-INT.pdf
https://www.stopeacop.net/home
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/4/16/insurance-firms-should-shun-the-east-african-crude-oil-pipeline

  This article was originially published in Independent Türkçe, on May 8, 2024.

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