Sixty European banks, insurance companies and investment companies directly or indirectly financed two international oil groups implicated in violence in South Sudan, accuses the non-governmental organization Global Witness, which specializes in the impact of exploitation of natural resources on the environment and human rights.
Among the names singled out by the report published Tuesday, November 14, are those of the German groups Deutsche Bank and Allianz, the Italian Intesa Sanpaolo, the Dutch Aegon and ING, and the French BNP Paribas, BPCE, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel CIC and Société Générale.
The NGO has identified more than 700 million euros in direct or indirect participations of the European financial institutions involved in the Chinese oil group CNPC (China National Petroleum Company), the Malaysian Petronas or their listed subsidiaries, as well as four billion euros in loans and commissions received during bond issues from the two companies.
Financing the purchase of weapons
However, Global Witness accuses the two groups of encouraging intermittent violence in South Sudan, independent since 2011 and in the grip of a civil war since 2013 which has led, according to the United Nations, to the death of several hundred thousand people and the displacement of around four million inhabitants.
Petronas is a shareholder in South Sudan’s three major crude oil producers, Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC), Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC) and Sudd Petroleum Operating Company (SPOC). If the Malaysian oil company announced, in December 2022, the sale of its stakes to the British Savannah Energy, this sale is still not effective and the Chinese CNPC appears in the capital of DPOC and GPOC. However, Sudan’s three oil companies have been included since 2018 on the list of entities that the United States considers likely to constitute a threat to national security.
At the time, the US Commerce Department concluded that these companies represented “an important source of income (…) to finance the purchase of weapons and other materials that harm peace, security and stability” in South Sudan.
Put pressure on European officials
Global Witness hopes that the financial groups cited will be able to “change the way they do business”but also intends to put pressure on European political leaders who are debating the inclusion of the financial sector in the scope of application of the CSDD directive on the duty of vigilance of companies in matters of sustainability.
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