Business opportunities are expected to increase in the regions in which the 1,443km-East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), running from Hoima District in Uganda to Chongoleani, Tanga, in Tanzania, will pass.
Diligent Consulting Ltd, a Dar es Salaam-based company which provides consultancy and training services, already applied to embrace business training opportunities in the EACOP project.
Speaking to The Business Wiz during an interview recently, the firm’s Founder, Senior Consultant and International Trainer Sosthenes Sambua said if the company’s application is approved, the firm will offer various business projects, including modern cattle keeping, modern poultry farming and modern beekeeping.
According to Sambua, those business projects will help uplift the livelihoods of families living near the EACOP project adding that upon completion of the project, residents will have sustainable businesses.
“This EACOP project comes with many business opportunities to residents. But to exploit them effectively, residents need capacity building training,” he pointed out.
He explained that his company has experienced consultants and trainers of small-scale businesses adding that after a one-year planned training period, the residents would be in a better position to start business projects of their own choice.
Sambua added that Diligent Consulting Ltd is registered with Business Registration and Licensing Agency (BRELA) and has been issued with a licence to provide business and training services adding that his company offers both long- and short-term consultancy and training programs.
“Long-term projects involve the supervision of projects, while short-term projects involve training of graduates in how to develop a good business idea and implement it.”
He said Diligent Consulting Ltd has also been working with Tanzania Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness Centre (TECC) to help business people develop good business idea where the company competes them.
According to him, those who excel in the competition are given additional capital to boost their business projects.
Although the European Union (EU) Parliament passed a resolution against the implementation of the EACOP project in Uganda and Tanzania, on September 15, 2022, both countries have clarified their standpoints on the project.
Tanzania in particular has said the EACOP project will be implemented with strict observance of international safety, environmental and social aspects, including human rights.
Giving the country’s stand on the project the government of Tanzania through the Ministry of Energy on September 19 issued a statement that states “a human rights impact assessment (HRIA) was undertaken as part of the project implementation process. HRIA assessed and put in place measures for addressing potential adverse effects of the project on human rights enjoyment.”
Furthermore, the statement states that no land will be accessed by the project until compensation and resettlement has been fully undertaken and notice to vacate has been issued.
It further noted that the EACOP project will be implemented in line with best industry practices in terms of transparency, environmental, social, gender inclusiveness and human rights considerations with the aim of ushering shared prosperity and sustainable development to citizens.
The $4 billion crude oil pipeline with a peak capacity of 246,000 billion barrels of petroleum liquids (bbls) per day will transport oil produced from Lake Albert oilfields to Tanga Port where it will be sold to world markets.
The pipeline, whose first 296 kilometres are in Uganda and the remaining 1,147 kilometres in Tanzania, will be buried deep enough to make humans and animals to cross freely anywhere along its length.