Before making a decision, the bank wants to assess the carbon-reduction targets of partners in the project, the technology that will be used as well as the impact on people who will be displaced, Fihla says.
Standard Bank’s domestic competitors ABSA, Nedbank and Investec have distanced themselves from the plans. South African shareholder activist group Just Share has said the pipeline would pump enough oil to generate up to 34.3m tonnes of carbon dioxide – about seven times the emissions of Uganda and Tanzania combined. France’s TotalEnergies and the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) signed the final investment decision for EACOP on February 1.
Fihla points to Standard Bank’s position as the largest bank in Uganda and says that means that it needs to consider the project carefully. “If you are doing business in a particular geography, you have to be objective
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