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              South Sudan Introduces Programs to Attract Investors

   by Peter Clottey

   South Sudan's Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment says
   Africa's newest nation is implementing policies to overcome its
   economic challenges.
   Garang Diing Akuong said that includes measures to create an enabling
   environment for foreign investment.
    "As at now we are attracting investors, but it's not enough to
   [satisfy] our ambitions. We hope to have more," he said. "We are
   supposed to put a couple of things in place to enable South Sudanese to
   invest and also to attract others to invest in South Sudan."
   Akuong expressed disappointment in conflict which he said destabilizes
   East Africa and discourages foreign direct investment.
    "We are doing our best to stabilize South Sudan's [domestically]
   ....so that people will go about their business in the normal
   circumstances. The pre-condition for investment is peace and ...
   stability," he said.
   "We are also trying to build peaceful co-existence with our neighbor
   [the Republic of Sudan] that we left. Currently, we are having
   difficulty relating to Sudan due to our differences on oil and border
   demarcation. These are pending issues, and they are creating a lot of
   instability in the region."
   Akuong called on the East African Community, the Intergovernmental
   Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Union to help broker a
   peace deal between Juba and Khartoum.
   "We hope that [they] will come and aide the two of us so that we reach
   an amicable solution. Trade is very important element in this
   co-existence because trade binds more than the other policies in
   place," he said.
   Akuong made his comments at a recent three-day meeting of the New York
   Forum Africa held in the Gabonese capital, Libreville. The group brings
   together international investors and African business leaders on the
   continent in an effort to foster partnerships.
   Akuong said since independence the government has launched initiatives
   to strengthen its diplomatic relations within the region.
   "We are doing a lot to reconcile with neighboring countries, especially
   the Sudan. Because instability within the country and with neighbors
   can negatively affect investment," said Akuong.
   "We are also trying to organize the various sectors in the country so
   that we know what it takes for [each sector] to take off. For instance,
   we are looking into power generation. We have a huge power deficit. We
   have about 10-20 megawatts in the entire country, a country that has
   oil. This is unacceptable."
   Akuong said the government wants to attract investment in the energy
   sector, which he said is a priority and pre-requisite for investors.
   He said the government is also planning a massive infrastructural
   development program including road networks "for easy import and
   export."
   He said the government is enacting laws to serve as an incentive for
   the private sector.
    "We are working to encourage private banking. As of now, we have about
   nine banks in South Sudan and more than half of them are private
   international banks from Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia."  He says it's
   important because a healthy banking system is essential for financing
   development.
   Akuong expressed confidence that South Sudan's government policies will
   transform the country into one of the economic "tigers" of Africa.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/south_sudan_introduces_programs_to_attract_investors/1249056.html