Multinational oil and gas corporations' contribution to SDGs and social compliance in Uganda through their corporate social responsibility: a lens into readiness and the obstacles they face

Globally, the need for corporate social responsibility (CSR) to be embraced by companies engaged in the oil and gas (O&G) extractive activities, continues to take center stage in sustainable development debates. As part of the debate, the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) developed and facilitated the uptake of a framework that guides public-private partnership (PPPs) engagements in O&G towards risk sharing for sustainable communities. Hence, to contribute to the debate, this research sought to assess the state of CSR in Uganda’s oil and gas companies and how it can contribute to realization of sustainable development goals (SDGs). The study adopted a cross- sectional research design and was guided by qualitative methodologies. Qualitative data collected was triangulated by an analysis of the Social Accountability standard (SA 8000), and ISO 26000 as well as through conducting an inductive literature review. Field data was collected from 50 companies purposively selected from a regulator, Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU). These companies and players are engaged in both the upstream and downstream activities in the Albertine Graben O&G region of Uganda. The research findings indicate that CSR initiatives do not adequately contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in Uganda because of various factors. Key among them is the level of corruption which has remained an outstanding obstacle and has negatively impaired the potential trickle-down of the deliverables of the CSR initiatives. In addition, there is the harshness of the prevailing tax regime which is less accommodative of CSR investments. That is, it does not offer any significant waivers to CSR expenditures. The research thus recommends, among others, reforms in policies that govern O&G operations to accommodate recognition of CSR as a mainstream, rather than peripheral, activity.