StopEACOP Coalition Demands Disclosure of $3.7 Billion Pipeline Debt

Roughly US$3.7 billion in project lending is now linked to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline for 2025 and 2026, according to fresh analysis by Reclaim Finance — and a 149-organisation coalition wants the lenders behind it to say exactly how much they hold.

The StopEACOP coalition sent an open letter to eight African and Middle Eastern financial institutions demanding full disclosure of their financial involvement in EACOP, the 1,443-kilometre crude line designed to move Ugandan oil from the Albertine Graben to the Tanzanian coast at Tanga. The figure of $3.7 billion is roughly a third of the project's often-cited $5 billion cost, which puts the scale of the ask in perspective.

The institutions named are:

• Afreximbank
• KCB Group and KCB Bank Uganda
• Islamic Development Bank Group and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector
• NMB Bank Tanzania
• Qatar National Bank
• Standard Bank Group and Stanbic Bank Uganda
• Uganda Development Bank

Who has confirmed what?

EACOP Ltd has publicly confirmed financing involving Afreximbank, Standard Bank, Stanbic Bank Uganda, KCB Bank Uganda and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector. It has not disclosed the amounts. The terms and extent of exposure at NMB Bank Tanzania, Qatar National Bank and Uganda Development Bank remain undisclosed altogether.

The coalition says the African and Gulf lenders stepped in only after more than 40 banks and 30 insurance companies declined to support EACOP or adopted policies restricting their involvement. That is a credit gap, filled regionally. The takeaway: the money is real, but almost nobody will say how much of it is theirs.

What does the coalition want?

Three demands anchor the letter. Each lender must disclose the full scope, structure and terms of its support, including exposure through bonds, guarantees and advisory roles. Each must commit to no further funding for EACOP expansion or related oil and gas development in the Albertine Graben or elsewhere. And each must contribute financially to an independent, community-led remediation mechanism covering compensation, livelihood restoration and environmental clean-up, with contributions apportioned to each party's role in the project.

"First oil does not mark an end to the harm caused by EACOP. It escalates and entrenches it," said Zaki Mamdoo, StopEACOP campaign coordinator. He said institutions that had provided billions of dollars must publicly account for their decisions and take responsibility for the associated damage.

Antoine Bouhey, Defund TotalEnergies campaign coordinator at Reclaim Finance, said lenders that agreed to finance EACOP should be held accountable for the project's impacts, contribute to reparative justice for affected communities, and exclude new financing for oil and gas expansion in Uganda and elsewhere.

What about the communities on the route?

The coalition cites land acquisition and compensation failures, lost livelihoods, militarisation and environmental damage along the right-of-way and at the Chongoleani terminal in Tanga. It warns these risks will persist and could intensify once production and exports begin.

"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," said Rachael Tugume, an EACOP project affected person. She questioned whether the financing banks understood the impact on people whose land made the project possible. The sentiment is familiar along pipeline corridors; the difference here is that it now carries a deadline.

When does first oil actually arrive?

The transparency push coincides with another slip in the schedule. Uganda National Oil Company officials said at African Energy Week, held 12–16 October, that commercial production is now targeted for June 2027. Previous targets ran 2025, then June 2026, then July 2026. Tanzania's state petroleum company separately indicated crude could reach Tanga by February 2027, with first tanker loading expected in March.

The eight institutions have been asked to clarify their positions by 16 November. The coalition says it will publish responses and non-responses alike after the deadline — the watch item, in plain words.