Eacop’s $5b financing headache as environment activists pile pressure
Containers of crude oil at the test drilling site of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation Uganda, which operates the “Kingfisher” project in western Uganda. PHOTO | FILE
In a week when seven more financiers publicly distanced themselves from backing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), executives from the Ugandan government and oil companies remained confident that the financing package for the project — which is key to the commercialisation of Uganda’s oil — is on the home stretch and will be tied up in two months.
The confidence is buoyed by recent revelations by the Financial Times and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism that New York-based insurance broker Marsh McLennan will come on board as the insurance arranger. This brought optimism after global insurers Swiss Re, AXA and Zurich last year declined to cover the $5 billion pipeline that has faced a fierce campaign from climate and environmental activists who describe it as “toxic”.
