"Eacop’s financing blues as lenders desert $3.5b project"

All is not well with the Total SE-sponsored East African Crude Oil Pipeline as, one by one, European lenders are walking away from requests to finance the $3.5 billion project, leaving it in financing blues barely three weeks after its launch. Last week, French newspaper Les Echos reported that three French banks – BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole – which have previously bankrolled Total’s oil and gasprojects – had opted not to provide financing for Eacop.

Milan-based UniCredit, one of the targeted lenders for Eacop, confirmed to The EastAfrican that its policies bar it from financing projects that pose environmental risks. “We confirm that UniCredit has stringent policies in place to prevent the bank from financing deals that present environmental risks and are in any way in violation of human rights,” said Tuulike Tuulas, global head of media coverage at UniCredit.