Page 11 - AfrOil Week 06 2023

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

“We have a distribution problem that comes up Tinubu’s criticism led the NNPCL head
as a result of the shift in the cost of logistics in to assert that the gasoline shortages were not
our business taking fuel from the mother vessels connected to the presidential vote, as they had
to the terminals into trucks to the fuel stations.” begun in early 2022. However, the APC nomi-
Kyari was speaking after Bola Tinubu, the All nee was not the only party to speak harshly of
Progressives Congress (APC) faction’s nominee the company. The Major Oil Marketers Associ-
in the upcoming presidential election, blasted ation of Nigeria (MOMAN), a local trade associ-
NNPCL during a campaign event. He argued ation, argued that NNPCL was failing Nigerians
that the state-owned company was trying to sab- because it did not have the capacity to supply
otage his candidacy by not taking enough action and distribute enough fuel to meet domestic
to mitigate fuel shortages. demand. ™

NGOs file complaint against US firm for role

in brokering EACOP insurance coverage

UGANDA/TANZANIA A group of non-governmental organisations Co-operation and Development (OECD).
(NGOs) has alleged that New York-based The OECD guidelines are technically
Marsh, a member of the Marsh McLennan non-binding.
Group, is violating international guidelines However, they are widely accepted as a global
for responsible business conduct by helping to standard for ethical business conduct, and the
arrange insurance coverage for the East Africa NGOs have asked NCP to review the allegations
Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project. against Marsh in light of the company’s ties to
The group, which pairs Inclusive Devel- EACOP Ltd, the consortium established to build
opment International (IDI) of the US with the pipeline in question.
10 Ugandan and Tanzanian NGOs focused The New York-based insurance company is
on environmental and human rights issues, brokering underwriting services for EACOP
has filed a complaint against Marsh with the Ltd, which was set up to build a 1,443-km
National Contact Point (NCP), a division of the heated pipeline that will pump crude oil from
US Department of State that handles allegations fields near Lake Albert in western Uganda to
against US firms. Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port of Tanga. As such,
IDI explained in a statement dated Febru- it is meeting a key need for the consortium,
ary 7 that the complaint outlined instances of which must secure insurance to meet Ugan-
Marsh’s failure to comply with the Guidelines dan legal requirements – and which may not be
for Multinational Enterprises, a set of standards able to obtain adequate financing without such
drawn up by the Organisation for Economic coverage.

The pipeline will be 1,443 km long (Image: EACOP)

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