More than a year since Chinese financiers and the developers of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) entered negotiations to bankroll the project’s debt, a massive hole remains in the financing structure as the loans amounting to about $3 billion are not imminent, forcing shareholders into emergency measures to raise additional equity funding.
When fresh cash calls for the project came in last month, the Eacop shareholders dug deep to raise money and avert the project’s stalling – a situation that would impact the set timelines for production and export of crude from Uganda’s oilfields in the Lake Albert region.
