China-backed projects in Africa targeted by environmental groups

The developers of dozens of schemes, many of them built under the Belt and Road Initiative, have been accused of putting profit ahead of ecosystems

‘There is no doubt that Chinese commercial actors … have tried to evade the environmental requirements,’ academic says

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China National Offshore Oil Corp is a major investor in an oil pipeline project linking Tanzania and Uganda. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:00am, 30 May 2021Updated: 1:54pm, 1 Jun 2021

Uganda and Tanzania last week gave the go-ahead for the construction of an oil pipeline between the two countries, as environmentalists continued to push for it to be scrapped.

State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp, along with its partner Total, is a major investor in the project and the oilfield it serves.

Green groups, including BankTrack, the Africa Institute for Energy Governance and 350Africa, have said that both the “extraction sites and the pipeline pose environmental and social risks to protected wildlife areas, water sources and communities throughout Uganda and Tanzania”.

The 1,445km (900-mile) pipeline is designed to carry heated crude oil from Hoima in Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania.

Dozens of China-backed and funded projects in Africa – many of them developed as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative – have faced opposition from communities and environmentalists who accuse their developers of destroying ecosystems in their pursuit of commodities like oil, metals and timber.

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