United Kingdom oil companies, among them Tullow Oil, have come under focus for financing British High Commission social events in Africa, raising questions from environmental groups over transparency and advocacy.
A news report by Worldnet indicates UK’s embassies and consulates in six sub-Saharan African countries accepted more than £57,000 in corporate sponsorships for parties and drinks events from the oil companies.
The story, which quotes an expose by BuzzFeed News, says new figures obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that embassies and consulates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi, and Ethiopia received the donations, over three years.
But they are not declared on Foreign Office (FCO) annual reports or accounts, and highlight the close ties between oil companies in the region and the FCO’s representatives.
The campaign group Greenpeace, which obtained the FOI data and shared the releases with BuzzFeed News, said the donations raise questions as to the revolving door and social ties between oil companies and the FCO, as well as over whether sponsoring social functions grants privileged access to support from the government department.
“This investigation into the shadowy world of corporate-sponsored parties and revolving doors raises urgent questions over the kind of influence British oil firms have over UK government officials,” Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven is quoted by BuzzFeed News as saying.
“Many of these companies are pursuing controversial projects that could damage national parks, put endangered wildlife at risk, and will certainly drive more climate change in African countries that are already vulnerable.
“The UK government can’t have its cake and eat it. If Britain is serious about honouring the Paris climate deal, its government officials must stop acting like the oil industry’s lobbying arm.”
The FCO began accepting contributions towards embassy events such as the Queen’s birthday celebrations as a cost-saving measure, according to BuzzFeed News, and as part of the department’s role in promoting business interests overseas.
It reports embassies are only required to disclose the contributions in the Foreign Office’s annual accounts if an individual contribution exceeds Sh632,561 (£5,000). If a company makes multiple contributions – whether to the same embassy or multiple ones – totalling above this figure, these do not appear in the accounts.
The Sh7.2 million (£57,000) total in the FOI figures includes Sh1.6 million (£12,500) from Shell subsidiaries, and around Sh1 million (£8,900) from Tullow Oil.
Correspondence between FCO officials and oil executives shows warm relations between the two, and that business is discussed at the parties thrown by the companies and executives.
One such piece of mail was sent by an UK Trade and Investment official in Uganda to a Tullow executive. “Dear Dean, as briefly discussed on Friday (during the Tullow end of year party – which was amazing!) we write to request a meeting with you,” it begins.
A party in Namibia in 2013 was hosted by the FCO on a Royal Navy battleship, where oil executives mingled with UK and Namibian officials at a visit that included a captain’s lunch for the top brass.
Staff in Zambia, meanwhile, exchanged emails with Tullow Oil executives in the country, celebrating a deal – gained with Foreign Office support – giving Tullow oil exploration rights in some of the country’s national parks.
Drilling in such areas is strongly discouraged by the international convention of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (a UN partner), which gives the parks category II protected status. Tullow hasn’t committed to not drilling in these areas, but has pledged to not drill category I world heritage sites.
A Tullow executive sent the UK’s high commission an enthusiastic thank you for their support: “This great result for Tullow and hopefully Zambia is in no small part thanks to your BRILLIANT support.”
A spokesperson for the FCO said that supporting British businesses overseas was a key part of the department’s functions and that sponsored parties helped fulfil this role.
“British embassies and high commissions around the world accept corporate sponsorship for events from a range of organisations and companies,” she said. “This sponsorship helps reduce the cost of events to the British taxpayer while helping to boost British business globally.”
Though the report does not mention any incident relating to Kenya, Tullow Oil’s office in Kenya has told Money and Markets that they have routinely financed high commission events in return for official support extended to the company.
“Tullow has, alongside many other companies, provided sponsorship for a number of UK high commission and embassy events in Kenya and elsewhere over the past few years to recognise the excellent and much appreciated assistance and help that we have received from the UK foreign office throughout 30 years of investment in Africa,” it said in an emailed response to us.
It is also difficult to establish what kind of specific support the company, which is preparing to undertake its first oil export early next year, has received from high commission officials in its Kenyan operations.
The operations have, however, not encountered much difficulty save for a protest in 2013 when Turkana pastoralists protested that the ongoing oil exploration in the region has interfered with pasture land and that future pastures for their animals would be decimated. The company was forced to shut down operations but resumed following talks with the community.
Correspondence between FCO officials and oil executives shows warm relations between the two, and that business is discussed at the parties thrown by the companies and executives.
It quotes one such piece of mail was sent by an UK Trade and Investment official in Uganda to a Tullow executive. “Dear Dean, as briefly discussed on Friday (during the Tullow end of year party – which was amazing!) we write to request a meeting with you,” it begins.
In Uganda, Tullow has drilled over 50 wells since 2006. However, according to Wikipedia, this has not been without controversy. During trial of a case involving the acquisition of Heritage Oil assets in the country, it emerged that senior directors at Tullow had discussed making an “undocumented” $50 million payment to the Ugandan government before considering funding parts of President Yoweri Museveni’s re-election campaign. Both Tullow and Museveni denied the claims.
The firm has also been under sharp focus for its political lobbying in the UK. It is also a major backer of the Conservative Party.
None of the donations by the oil firms in the FOI data are declared in the Foreign Office’s annual reports, though BuzzFeed News understands a contribution of just over £5,000 to the British high commission in Tanzania should have been declared, but was omitted due to an FCO accounting error.
Sauven told BuzzFeed News the criteria on declaring donations should be widened in the interests of transparency.
“The government has urgent questions to answer on why donations from British oil firms to many embassies across Africa don’t show up in the Foreign Office accounts,” he said.
“Since embassy parties offer an opportunity for industry executives to gain access to senior UK diplomats, the government should be absolutely transparent about which companies are bankrolling these events.”
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