Keynote Statement by H.E. James Wani Igga at the African Heads of State Working Lunch in New York City, USA
6 min readKeynote Statement by H.E. James Wani Igga, Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, at the African Heads of State and Government Investment Working Lunch
New York – 24 September 2015
Common Economic Challenges and Opportunities:
With about 30 million square kilometers, Africa is not only the world’s second largest continent, but one with the largest reserves of precious metals. Being home to about 90% of the world’s platinum reserves, 40% of gold, 65% of cobalt, large deposits of iron ore, oil and gas, the continent has in the last two decades been an attractive destination of capital flow and foreign direct investment (FDI).
However, the current continental economic structures do not allow Africa to take advantage of this high volume of capital flow and access to new technological innovations. And because intra-Africa growth linkages are almost non-existent, important reforms to regional and continental growth strategies are imperative. Railways and highways connecting landlocked countries, which are currently depending on air transportation, will go a long way in creating a continental economy.
As of today, Africa’s agricultural and industrial productivity remains the lowest in the world. Hence, the only way we can collectively chart the way forward is to develop a common policy on overcoming a repository of common economic challenges. We must work together to change the perception of “the typical” African over the coming decades, from a poor farmer or rebel to a successful entrepreneur. This calls for restructuring Africa’s industrial base to raise the productivity of investments and increase the volume of returns.
Intra-Africa trade in goods, services, and capital requires more flexible legal frameworks and less cumbersome and protective borders. It is a common fact that bad infrastructure and rent seeking have for long been indirect measures that have had the same effect as high tariffs and taxes. These direct and indirect barriers must be quickly destroyed starting by fast-tracking full regional economic integration.
Equal to policy related impediments, human flight caused by negative forces in the continent such as Boko Haram, Lord’s Resistance Army, Eashabab and others has had a significantly negative impact on Africa’s investment climate. This is caused by the fragility of African states where peaceful and periodic political transition have been witnessed in few countries, while many continue to experience violent political power contestation. It is our duty as African leaders to strengthen our political systems and encourage inclusive governance, so as to embrace the diverse views within our respective nations.
Last but not least is the issue of service provision. The last outbreak of Ebola in West Africa was a devastating reminder that the continent’s positive growth rates in the last decade have not been grassroots based. While much has been achieved, HIV/ Aids and malaria continue to claim millions of lives annually, especially at the rural levels.
Access to maternal and general healthcare facilities, clean drinking water, and primary education should be the benchmarks by which Africa’s positive growth is measured. Hence, widening the continent’s economic base and redistribution of the benefits therein remains the objective economic policymaking worldwide.
South Sudan’s Investment Climate:
With its size of some 648,015 Sq km South Sudan is gifted with lots of natural resources. But, typical of continental levels, while individual countries are endowed with natural resources, the majority of citizens remain left out from the benefits accruing to their countries. And as a new country, South Sudan aspires to offer the continent with new opportunities for expanding investment.
True, even after its independence, the country has been afflicted by twenty months of civil war but last august the guns have been silenced. What remains now is deployment of the ceasefire monitors and verifiers. We are only awaiting IGAD and its partners to expeditiously deploy them for us to honestly enter the next phase of peace implementation and create a conducive investment climate.
The investment climate in South Sudan is governed by many factors such as the country’s expansive territory and unique location right at the center of Africa (from a town called Tali in South Sudan, it is equidistant to Cape Town as well as Cairo, equidistant to the Indian Ocean as it is to the Atlantic Ocean. This is actually the true center of Africa). For example, this huge territory is blessed with vast natural resources including fertile lands, vast hardwood forests, over twenty five million heads of livestock, countless fresh water lakes and rivers.
South Sudan’s sub-humid climate averaging 20o C – 30o C is subdivided into numerous agro-ecological zones including some of the largest floodplains in the world, some of which experience almost a year round rainfall. These climatic and natural endowments make the country an investor’s dreamland where a wide range of economic activities such as growing cash crops, meat production and the supply of freshwater fish, to name but a few examples, could be undertaken with minimum capital injections.
South Sudan is also home to one of the five largest wetlands and floodplains in the world. The 57,000 km2 Sudd wetlands has seen an annual animal migration that has been compared to Tanzania’s famous Serengeti migration by a 2005 USAID aerial survey. Hence, there lies enormous potential for a lucrative tourism industry which will further enrich the already famous tourist destination of East Africa.
South Sudan is also the third largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, with a current production potential of over 350,000 bpd. Hence, the country’s extremely underdeveloped oil and gas industrial production beckons for massive capital injection with a guaranteed return on investment. There are over twenty minerals that have been for long mined by locals, including gold, cooper, mercury, iron ore, etc.
Given the central role played by legislation in determining the attractiveness of any investment destination the republic of South Sudan has endeavored to enact laws that are geared towards establishing a conducive business environment. The South Sudan Investment Promotion Act (2009) and Company Act 2011 provide attractive incentives to foreign, regional, and local industries such as easy land acquisition, company registration, income repatriation, and duty exemptions and anti-expropriation measures.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, political instability and civil war seem to be the main hurdles to Africa’s sustainable take-off into economic growth and development. I am talking from a real experience in my own country. However, while we must collectively device systems that discourage violent political power contest, continuing in the path of development has proven to be another viable means of peace-building. Peace through development is not an abstract theme.
Having gone through colonialism at the same timeframe, African states are facing the economic forces of neo-colonialism at the same time too. We are bound by a common past and present; there is no way that any country in Africa could argue that it will be able to chart its future in isolation from the rest of its neighbors.
As for South Sudan, it is the only country in Africa that is not a member of any regional block. While our accession to the East African Community is just a matter of time, as it is we are a member of the Northern Corrdior, fast-tracking the process will be to the benefit of both South Sudan and the entire East African community.
Again, let Africa’s growth benefit our citizens in order for them to be the drivers and solid foundation of that growth. There is no other shortcut to sustainable economic development.
Thank you.
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