East African Carbon Company claims to be setting up carbon projects in Uganda. It is a subsidiary of Alpha MBM Investments, a Dubai-based company developing a US$4 billion oil refinery in Uganda. The chairman of Alpha MBM Investments is Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s royal family.
Cover: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, centre, at Ascot in 2011. Photograph: David Davies/PA
Chris Lang || A company called East African Carbon Company (EACC) claims to be the “operational and technical partner to Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) in delivering nature-based carbon projects under a public–private model.”
A promotional video explains that across “protected landscapes” in Uganda “over 714,000 hectares are ready for restoration and long-term protection. That’s the chance to remove millions of tonnes of carbon from the air over the next 40 years.”
The company estimates that it could generate 18.5 million tonnes of carbon sequestration over a 40-year period.
EACC describes itself as a government-aligned platform, “designed to develop carbon projects in partnership with African states, beginning with Uganda”.
The company claims to be,
Facilitating high-integrity carbon transactions under Article 6, ensuring transparency, cooperation, and measurable climate impact.
So who and what is behind this company and its push for carbon credits in Africa?
A search on OpenCorporates reveals no information about where East African Carbon Company was incorporated. On its LinkedIn page, where it describes itself as “The leading Carbon and Climate Company in Africa”, the company gives an address in Dubai
The company’s website provides a little information — at least about some of the people involved in the company:
Stephan Bognar is Director of Sustainability Asia at Wildlife Works Carbon, a position he’s held since November 2020. He doesn’t mention East African Carbon Company on his LinkedIn page.
Julian Owomugisha is a civil engineer and an air quality campaigner. In June 2025, she ran 60 kilometres from Kololo to Luwero. That’s pretty impressive. As she ran, she measured the air quality. Only 7.2 kilometres of the route had air quality within safe limits.
Naveed Tariq is Chief Investment Officer of both East African Carbon Company and a company called Alpha MBM Investments. And this is where things start to get interesting.
Alpha MBM Investments
Alpha MBM Investments is a Dubai-based investment company. The company’s chairman is Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s royal family.
In March 2025, Alpha MBM Investments signed an agreement with the Ugandan government to develop a US$4 billion oil refinery in Hoima District. The refinery will have the capacity to process 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
In a couple of days, the refinery will have produced enough oil to more than wipe out any climate benefits from the 18.5 million tonnes of carbon that East African Carbon Company hopes to store in the trees it plants over a 40 year period.
On its website Alpha MBM Investments explains that:
Through the East African Investment Group, we manage a portfolio of subsidiaries in agriculture, carbon credits, and natural resources. With the privilege of holding exclusive rights to carbon credit development in Uganda, we aim to contribute to environmental sustainability and climate finance, balancing economic growth with responsible stewardship of the region’s natural resources.
So East African Carbon Company is subsidiary of the East African Investment Group, which in turn is one of the “four pillars” of Alpha MBM Investments.
The projects in Uganda
The information about East African Carbon Company’s projects in Uganda is limited.
East African Carbon Company posts regularly on LinkedIn but much of what’s written there is difficult to pin down to specific projects. For example, in December 2025, Julian Owomugisha wrote that,
On selected project sites in Uganda, we are moving forward with long term land leases of 10,000 plus hectares in the Northern Region, which are the country’s protected areas like National parks, Central and Local Forest reserves. Crucially, these are leased directly from the communities for climate-smart agribusiness. This isn’t a donation, it’s a business transaction acknowledging the community as the asset owners.”
On its website, East African Carbon Company lists three projects:
- Uganda REDD + RBP: In December 2025, Uganda received a payment of US$31 million from the Green Climate Fund for 8 million tonnes of CO₂e emissions reductions between 2016 and 2017. East African Carbon Company is not mentioned on either the Green Climate Fund’s web-page about this programme or UN-REDD’s November 2025 blog post about the payment.
- ART TREE Programme: Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment submitted an ART TREES Concept document in January 2023. However, since then little progress appears to have been made.
- Nature-Based Carbon Pilot: According to EACC’s website, this project started in 2024 and is approximately two-thirds through a pre-feasibility phase. However, no information outside EACC’s website and LinkedIn page appears to exist about this cooperation, apart from one article which is based on EACC’s information.
Another project, Wetlands in Limoto, is also listed on the website. But EACC’s involvement so far appears to consist of a visit to the area in October 2025.
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