UK lawsuit against EACOP threatens Uganda's energy future, AEC says

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) has criticised a legal challenge against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in the UK High Court, arguing that Uganda’s energy future should be decided by its own institutions rather than foreign courts.

The claim filed on July 7 by four Ugandan farmers, asks the court to apply Ugandan constitutional, environmental and climate law to EACOP Ltd, the UK-registered company responsible for developing, building and operating the 1,445 km heated pipeline.

EACOP is majority owned by French oil major TotalEnergies (EPA/NYSE/LSE: TTE), alongside CNOOC Ltd (HKEX: 0883; SSE: 600938), the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).

According to the AEC, the claimants are effectively asking the English court to prevent the project from becoming operational just months before the planned start of exports later this year. The timing was significant, the Chamber said, arguing that legal challenges against major African energy projects often emerge as developments near completion. Such claims create uncertainty for investors, delay infrastructure development and slow economic growth in resource-rich countries.

“This is colonialism 2.0,” AEC’s executive chairman NJ Ayuk said in a media statement. “For generations, Africa was told what resources it could exploit and how it should develop. Today, some of those same pressures are being repackaged through foreign-funded litigation and ideological campaigns that seek to dictate Africa’s energy choices from thousands of kilometres away. UK courts should not determine Uganda’s energy future. Ugandans should.”

The $5.6bn EACOP project is seen as central to developing Uganda’s estimated 6.5 billion barrels of oil resources by linking production to international markets. The project is expected to support employment, local businesses, government revenues and wider industrial development in Uganda and Tanzania.

Activists opposing the project have repeatedly raised concerns about land acquisition, freshwater resources and protected habitats in both countries. However, TotalEnergies has maintained that the EACOP project complies with international environmental and social standards and includes measures to minimise its impact on local communities.

According to the Chamber, prolonged legal disputes over strategic energy projects are making it more difficult for African governments to tackle energy poverty. Uganda already has constitutional and judicial mechanisms to resolve such disputes, the AEC pointed out, warning that intervention by a UK court could set a wider precedent for foreign involvement in African development decisions.

“The time for Uganda to exploit its immensely valuable resources is now. Africa will not give in to international coercion to prevent the continent from energising and bringing wealth to its people,” Ayuk said. “Africa will not succumb to pressure to adhere to the energy transition on anyone else’s terms. We know what is good for African energy and we will do everything in our power to ensure that the continent’s resources benefit her people,” he added.