As fossil fuel projects continue across Africa, activists warn that we may see the repetition of a familiar cycle — one in which local communities bear the costs while profits flow abroad. Among those pushing back is Ugandan activist Hilda Nakabuye, who told EUobserver, "We've seen this before."
Nakabuye's warning centers on the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, or EACOP. It's a 1,443-kilometer (or 897-mile) project led by France's TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
The heated pipeline is set to move oil from Uganda's Lake Albert to Tanzania's coast, cutting through farms, wetlands, and wildlife corridors. Proponents see it as a path to economic growth, but Nakabuye and other critics say it threatens to displace tens of thousands of people, cause widespread contamination through potential leaks, and accelerate the rise of global temperatures. The Guardian reported in April that already around 13,000 people had been displaced.
"In my home village, people are already displaced, their incomes and livelihoods affected, unacceptable risks to water resources, biodiversity and natural habitats," Nakabuye previously said, per StopEACOP.
Indeed, Nakabuye's connection to the issue is personal. She grew up in Masaka in southern Uganda, where her family relied on farming until worsening droughts and unpredictable rains — intensified by rising temperatures — destroyed their crops. The loss forced the family to relocate to Kampala, according to EUobserver. There, Nakabuye found her purpose in environmental activism.
In 2019, Nakabuye told the outlet, she was inspired by Greta Thunberg's school strikes and founded Fridays for Future Uganda as a result. The organization is a youth-led movement focused on climate education and community action.
The group has since grown to more than 53,000 members, organizing strikes and campaigns that target EACOP financiers. Their efforts helped convince major banks to withdraw support for the project over environmental and human rights concerns. Those decisions stalled key funding talks, marking a major win for Uganda's youth movement.
Last winter, StopEACOP quoted Nakabuye as describing fossil fuel expansion as "a mockery for the existence of generations to come." Meanwhile, her group's activism comes with real risks.
"We've seen arrests, detentions, even kidnappings," Nakabuye told EUobserver, describing the growing pressure on environmental defenders. Despite that danger, and even as EACOP appears to move ahead, Nakabuye continues to push for renewable energy investments that protect both people and ecosystems while rejecting what she calls the "greenwashing" of carbon markets promoted by Western donors.
As European leaders look to Africa's resource wealth to fuel their own industries, Nakabuye remains wary of partnerships that promise development but deliver little local benefit. Even so, she sees hope in Africa's expanding youth-led climate movement.
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Absolutely 💯 "We share events, opportunities, and media spaces. We support each other. We're pushing for global decisions together," Nakabuye said.
Through this shared effort, Nakabuye and her peers aim to ensure that Africa's path forward isn't mired in the colonial extractivism it has experienced in the past and that more natural resources are retained by and protected for its residents.
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