Standard Chartered Bank no longer intends to finance Uganda’s planned $5 billion East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) due to environmental risk of carbon dioxide emissions.

The construction of EACOP, the world’s longest heated crude oil pipeline proposed by French Oil Company Total and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has already been delayed by the complexities and grievances regarding environmental concerns

A spokesman for the London-based bank was quoted by Bloomberg last week as saying that Standard Chartered “isn’t involved in the financing” of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline project, which is planned to carry oil 900 miles from the fields of western Uganda to the coast of Tanzania.

Activists have always warned they’ll target banks and investors involved in supporting the project.

The withdrawal by risk-averse lenders from the East African Crude Oil Pipeline has seen the cost of the project rise by 30 percent to $5 billion, meaning shareholders will be forced to dig deeper into their coffers to fund it.

Shareholders of TotalEnergies raised this question during the annual general meeting in May 2022, and company executives confirmed that increase in cost to $5 billion for a fully completed project, of which $2 billion will be financed through shareholders’ equity and $3 billion by external funding.

The shareholders of the EACOP, also known as the Hoima-Tanga oil pipeline, are TotalEnergies (62 percent), Uganda National Oil Company (15 percent), Tanzania Petroleum Development Company or TPDC (15 percent) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (8 percent).

At least 10 banks have flagged EACOP as an environmental risk, expected to produce emissions of about 34 tonnes of carbon dioxide at peak production annually, hence not in line with their principle not to lend to projects that do not meet the Paris Agreement goals on climate change.

Last year, the project plummeted into trouble after global insurers and export credit agencies, including French multinational AXA, withdrew their support.

“The underlying project is not compatible with our climate commitments,” AXA wrote in July 2022, while the UK Export Finance also turned down an application for finance, after the UK government ceased financing fossil fuel projects overseas.

The lenders also see EACOP as a project that is fraught with investment risk given the oil price fluctuation while international markets where the oil is to be exported are also embracing clean energy.

President Yoweri Museveni late last year maintained that the project would go ahead despite criticism from environmentalists

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I&M Bank, the latest financial institution to enter Uganda banking business has announced that they are moving their head office to Kingdom Kampala Mall on Nile Avenue effectively starting tomorrow.

“Dear customers, this is to inform you that to serve better, we have relocated our head office to Kingdom Kampala Mall located on plot 13A-35A, 37A-39A on Nile Avenue, Kampala effective Tuesday May 2, 2023” reads an internal circular to clients.

It further states that the functions that will be at the new location are that of Executive Office, Corporate banking products and channels, treasury, credit, legal, marketing and corporate communication and compliance.

I&M entered Uganda after acquiring majority shares of former Orient bank.

I&M Holdings PLC have acquired Orient Bank Limited from 8 miles LLP and Morka Holdings Limited. The acquisition process was completed on April 30, 2021 after receiving the necessary approvals from the Central Bank of Kenya, Bank of Uganda, Capital Markets Authority of Kenya and the COMESA Competition Authority.

Last year I&M Holdings Limited announced that they have reached an agreement to buy 90 per cent of Orient Bank Limited Uganda.

Through the acquisition, I&M Group has acquired additional net loan assets value of approximately Shs262 billion, deposits of Shs606 billion, a customer base of 68787, a staff component of 340 employees and a network of 14 branches and 22 ATMs across the country. A clear plan for the integration of OBL into the I&M Group has been developed and the Group expects to gain considerable business and operational synergies.

Kingdom Kampala Mall is owned by city tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia.

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Choppy trading during the week with the currency opening trading at the 3735/3745 levels, weakening briefly to touch lows of 3755/3765 and later settling at the 3730/3740 level as at Friday’s opening.
Pockets of Corporate demand were seen midweek but these were later outweighed by month-end inflows and inflows from other sectors like commodity exporters. Looking ahead as we head into the start of the new month of May, we are still likely to see some residual month-end flows spilling into next week. However, we should also see continued demand pockets from Corporates keeping the unit within the 3690 -3780 trading range.

According to Catherine Kijjagulwe, Head of Trading at Absa Bank Uganda, money Markets have been liquid throughout the week with overnight yields trading between the 10% -11.00% levels. Bank of Uganda was in the market during the week to mop up the excess liquidity through Repos and the Bank Of Uganda Bill.

The Central Bank held a Treasury Bill auction and yields in the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day tenors cleared at averages of 10.384%, 10.512% and 12.502% respectively. There is no government securities auction scheduled during the week.
She said Kenya shilling remained within a narrow range during the week with some decent inflows from the NGO and agricultural sectors that were able to meet the requirement on the demand side and interbank market activity picking up slowly. The unit is anticipated to trade within the 135.00 – 138.00 trading levels.

“The US GDP print of 1.10% on Thursday was lower than the market had expected, the 10-year US Treasury Bond traded at about 3.732%. The market continues to watch closely for the Fed’s likely action in terms of rate hikes amidst looming debt ceiling concerns. The dollar, though, continued to maintain its strength overall among most of the major currencies,” she said.
The Pound traded within a narrow range opening Friday’s session at the $1.2468 (Shs 4686) level. The Euro traded at $1.1007 (Shs 4137) on Friday morning.

Brent crude traded at $78.88 (Shs 296517) a barrel and West Texas Intermediate traded at $75.11 (Shs 282345) a barrel also impacted by lower-than-expected US Economic data and uncertainty of the Fed’s likely rate action in the coming months.
Gold traded at $1986.57 (Shs 7.4 Million) an ounce.

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The judgement by Justice Musa Ssekaana in the property battle between Church of Uganda and city businessman Charles Mbire has exposed how city lawyers and land fraudsters continue to claim properties whose titles were issues in error.

The latest case where the church claims ownership of land claiming that it was donated to it by the then president, Idi Amin is a true testimony that many properties especially under the custodian board have been falsely taken people who can’t account for them.

It is said that Church of Uganda lawyers were trying to cancel the land of the said property (Mbire’s company land) by an error but Justice Ssekaana rejected this and held the land title. Justice Ssekaana held that Mbire retains his land title and so was Church of Uganda keeps its land.

“I decline to issue an order of Mandamus to require the 1st respondent to forthwith cancel the certificate of title in respect of the land comprised in Leasehold Register Volume 2501 Folio 25 Plot M180 Off Akii Bua Road, Kampala and also to require the 1st respondent to enter the correct area in the applicant’s title as 0.558 hectares” reads Justice Ssekaana ruling.

Justice Ssekaana has declined to subdivide the Church of Uganda certificate of land title to create a separate plot of land for business tycoon Charles Mbire of Polilina Estates.

Church of Uganda contend that the land in question was allegedly donated to them by the then President Idi Amin Dada in 1974 and is located on Akii Bua Road, Kampala plot 21 measuring approximately 0.558 hectares.
This, Justice Ssekaana said, would not be granted given that there “were serious issues to be determined in a proper suit to determine the rights of the parties and correct the alleged errors in a suit to conclusively deal with the challenges on the land”.

Details in court indicate that the Church of Uganda entered into possession of the land but was never transferred into its name until October 18, 2006.

However, the certificate of title did not indicate the size or acreage of the land in question, which prompted the Church of Uganda in 2018 to request the Commissioner Land Registration to indicate on the certificate of title the correct size of 0.558 hectares.

“The Commissioner Land Registration, however, indicated a size of 0.301 hectares instead of 0.558 hectares stating that part of the land described as Plot M180 had been leased by the Uganda Land Commission to Polina Estates, predecessor in title of Tarsis Kabwegyere,” court documents read in part.

The Church of Uganda subsequently surveyed the property, in which it confirmed the size of the land comprising Plot 21 Akii Bua Road as 0.558 hectares and therefore, requested the Minister of Lands to intervene and enter the correct size of land.

Thus, it concluded that the acreage of Plot 21 measuring 0.558 hectares should be reinstated while plot M180 is erased from the cadastral map.

The Commissioner Land Registration conducted a public hearing, in which it was confirmed that Polina Estates’ title had been created erroneously but the Commissioner nonetheless ruled that the Church should surrender its title to enable subdivision of the property by creating a title for Polina Estates.

Court details indicate that Polina Estates filed an affidavit through its Managing Director Charles Mbire, the successor owner, who argued that Polina had acquired the property from Prof Kabwegyere, who through a government divestiture policy, had taken possession of the land in question as a sitting tenant in 1994, before selling it to Mr. Mbire in 1998.
Mbire also indicated that at no point did the government donate 0.558 hectares to the Church of Uganda but instead donated one of the two houses on the land and argued that the Church had never been in possession of the second property or the entire piece of land.

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