Outstanding Legal, Environmental and Social Issues in the Impact Assessments for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline
We take this opportunity to congratulate the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Petroleum Authority of Uganda on successfully organizing public hearings for the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Report of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The EACOP is one of the major oil and gas infrastructures envisaged in petroleum development in Uganda. This pipeline will transport oil from the Delivery Point in Hoima District in Uganda to a storage tank facility in Tanga District in Tanzania. The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) Total E&P, Uganda B.V., Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Ltd, and CNOOC Uganda Limited are participants in a pipeline project and are anticipated to become actual developers. In the interim, Total East Africa Midstream (TEAM) BV is the developer of the project. In line with the National Environment Act of Uganda, projects of this nature are mandated to undertake an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). This is a process for predicting and assessing the potential environmental and social impacts of a proposed project, evaluating alternatives, and designing appropriate mitigation, management, and monitoring measures. The EACOP project ESIA is currently being reviewed by NEMA, and for most of last week, public hearings were held across districts in the pipeline route to ensure that the views of the host communities are considered prior to approving the project. CSCO not only reviewed the entire ESIA for the project and submitted written comments to NEMA and the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, but also attended these public hearings and made oral submissions to the presiding officer.
Illicit Financial Flows Risk Factors in Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector – A Call to Action
Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) are becoming a real challenge to resource mobilization for financing development in Uganda and Africa at large. IFFs refer to movements of money and value from one country to another that are illegitimately earned, illegitimately transferred, and/or illegitimately utilized. According to a report by Trust Africa and the Mail & Guardian, Africa is estimated to be losing approximately USD 50 billion in illicit financial flows every year. Uganda alone is estimated to be losing about UGX 2 trillion per year and it is feared that the situation could get worse with the commencement of commercial oil production. Uganda has, since the confirmation of the existence of commercially viable oil in 2006, taken steps to ensure that; the resource is well governed; and the right revenues are generated from it and spent in a transparent and accountable manner. In this regard, the country has put in place a comprehensive legal and policy regime for the regulation of the upstream and midstream petroleum operations as well as, the management of oil revenues. An elaborate institutional framework has also been put in place to facilitate the collection, administration, and management of oil revenues for the benefit of all citizens. However, the challenge that the country has to manage is with respect to guarding against and/ or minimizing external petroleum revenue leakages, and in particular to ensure that oil companies pay their fair share of revenues as provided for under the law. Failure to manage illicit financial flows will undermine the country’s ability to generate the required revenue from its petroleum wealth which will perpetuate underdevelopment and poverty. This press statement by the Civil Society Coalition on Oil and Gas in Uganda (CSCO) therefore highlights the challenge of illicit financial flows, proposes mechanisms that can minimize the vice, and makes a call to action to address the challenge.
A Call For More Government Commitment As Uganda Launches Its Second EITI Report 2020/2021
On the 12th of August 2020, the EITI International Secretariat admitted the Republic of Uganda as the 54th member country of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). EITI requires governments and extractive companies to publish and reconcile data on oil, gas, and mining revenues as a mechanism for ensuring transparency, accountability, and subsequently, proper management of revenues that accrue from natural resources. Since 2020, a series of interventions have been undertaken to implement EITI in Uganda. Some of these include the establishment of the Uganda Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG); engagement and consultative meetings; capacity-building sessions; and contribution to several policies, laws, and guidelines in the extractives sector. Uganda has since developed and published two EITI reports. The first report (for the year 2019-2020) was published in February 2022, while the second report (2020-2021) was published on 30th June 2023.
Civil Society Statement on the Announcement of the Final Investment Decision for Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector
The Civil Society Coalition on Oil and Gas (CSCO) congratulates the Government of Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Oil Companies under the Joint Venture Partnership for the Lake Albert Oil and Gas project, upon the announcement of the Final Investment Decision (FID). The FID which unlocks colossal foreign direct investment is indeed a culmination of concerted efforts by the government, the private sector, and the citizenry in doing all that is required of every stakeholder and duty bearer towards this goal. We equally commend both the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and Total Energies upon signing a memorandum of understanding on renewable energy. This is reflective of the commitment toward energy transition and the need to exploit Uganda’s oil in a sustainable manner. We implore both the government and the oil companies to stick to this commitment.
Uganda Admitted to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
On Wednesday the 12th of August 2020, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) International Secretariat admitted the Republic of Uganda as the 54th member country of EITI. Uganda becomes the 26th African country to join the initiative. EITI is an international initiative that requires member countries and Companies to publish and reconcile data on oil, gas, and mining revenues as a mechanism for ensuring transparency, accountability, and subsequently proper management of revenues that accrue from natural resources. Uganda’s admission to EITI will benefit the country in various ways including; (i) promoting accountability by minimizing corruption and mismanagement of revenues from oil, gas, and mining; (ii)improving the revenue collection process and boosting public finances; and (iii) improving investment climate by giving a clear signal to investors and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) that the Government is committed to improving transparency among other benefits.