South Sudan is Open for Business – Ambassador Philip Jada Natana

By Ajong Mbapndah L

The notion that South Sudan is a basket case is nothing compared to palpable realities on the ground, says Ambassador Philip Jada Natana. In Washington since 2018 as South Sudan’s Ambassador to the USA, Philip Jada Natana says the formidable economic potential of Africa’s youngest nation makes it an attractive investment destination in East Africa.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with PAV in Washington, DC, Ambassador Natana says the country was slowly but steadily making progress in navigating early post-independence challenges.  For Ambassador Natana, the leadership in Juba is committed to peace through the revitalized peace agreement. Those who shun South Sudan and ignore the investment opportunities available are leaving a vacuum that other willing investors will fill Ambassador Natana said.

While many are quick to see oil as the only investment sector, Ambassador Natana points to agriculture, health, infrastructure, mining, and tourism as other sectors with strong investment potential that could boost the country's economy, create jobs, and eradicate poverty.

From politics, to the economy, the peace process, investment opportunities, relations with the USA, and more, Ambassador Philip Jada Natana fields questions on South Sudan, acknowledging challenges , highlighting its progress and sounding  optimistic about its future.

May we start with a synopsis of how South Sudan is doing economically, politically and socially?

Ambassador Jada Natana: South Sudan at this moment like any other country in the world has its challenges. It is the youngest country in the world. Economically, we are starting from scratch in terms of the infrastructure, and services to the people among others. Our priority as we became an independent country was addressing the challenges that we had, and that alone took a lot out of the economy. When we became independent, oil became our biggest source of revenue. Most of the proceeds we had from oil had to go to address the situation that we had in terms of developing the country. The potential is there and great but two years after independence we had this agreement on the leadership of the country which resulted in a coup that put the country back to war. That took the focus of the country back from the focus on investing in services and infrastructure for the population. Most of what we had, had to be redirected to trying to defend the county and the fighting and that was an unfortunate part.

We are coming out of that. In 2015 we signed an agreement which created the government of National Unity and things didn’t go well the next year as there was an outbreak of conflict in Juba. In 2018 we signed a peace agreement on September 10. Since that time the peace has been holding, and most of the opposition groups joined the government. We have a government of national unity that has been formed, we have a cabinet and legislature that has been formed. As part of the agreement, it was agreed that we were going to have a unified army; a joint training exercise started for all of the forces that were not part of the government and we formed the Joint Unified Force. The first batch has already graduated and at this moment we are working on forming the command, most of that has been done.

Without peace, any of these projects whether they are infrastructure or service delivery won’t be possible. We are optimistic that the peace process will move forward. The end of the initial period ended this year but had to be extended to 2025; we will have elections in December 2024 and in February 2025 we hope to have a new government in place. So, politically, we are on the right track and once we achieve most of these points that I have outlined then we can also progress well on the other things we are talking about economically; service delivery, building of the infrastructure that will open ways for us to trade within the continent but also outside the continent.

When people hear about South Sudan, the image that comes to mind is that of war and suffering. How much of this in today’s context is fiction and how much is reality?

Ambassador Jada Natana: If you follow the media, it is not only South Sudan but most of the news on the continent is about sufferings and conflicts. These are stories that are put out by humanitarian agencies; humanitarian agencies are big businesses around the world. Yes, there is suffering in South Sudan because of the conflicts I had outlined; there was war but now there is none. The unfortunate reality that you have in the West is that people are so focused on looking at the continent as a whole through what I call the rearview mirror – that has to change. Unfortunately, on the continent, we are not good at that because most journalists who visit the country do so in times of crisis because that is what sells and that is what the Western media mostly picks.

There is so much focus on humanitarian assistance, of course, we are grateful for the generosity of the West in providing all this humanitarian assistance, but continuous humanitarian assistance creates dependence and that is not what the continent needs – the continent needs a strong population that can feed itself and also contribute in terms of tax to make the country strong. Our priority is to see that we have peace, and we can exploit all the resources that we have on the continent. Strangely, when people hear about South Sudan, especially from the West, they hear about conflict and famine but if you go to the continent or South Sudan, you will be shocked to find out that despite all these negative profiles, investors are coming to South Sudan. In the regions, maybe we are the country that has the biggest number of foreigners. Ethiopians, Kenyans, and Ugandans are there in their thousands.

While people look at South Sudan as a place that may be dangerous and so on, most of our neighbours look at it as a land where they can find opportunities. This has been positive for us because it is helping the local population of South Sudan to realize this potential that has always been there; before they didn’t know. Yes, we have our share of challenges, but the focus is so much on looking at things in the rearview mirror which does not give you the actual situation on the ground. Now, some countries have more problems in terms of fighting and instability; we are now taking in refugees in South Sudan. When you get refugees coming into your country, that is already an indication that they find it safer.

Some international partners think that the revitalized peace agreement is not moving as fast as it should. When you look at South Sudan today, what are some of the palpable differences that one can see from the revitalized peace agreement?

Ambassador Jada Natana: The revitalized peace agreement when it was signed had benchmarks that we had to respect and adhere to. Some of them like having a unified force, graduating them in time so that they can secure the country and so on. That was the plan but when it came to the implementation, we had the challenges that I already talked about, we had COVID which everybody lost for almost a year, and we had the flooding. We have been in discussions with some of our allies in the West and partners; when they express their concerns, we tell them that yes, we acknowledge that we are behind, but these are the realities. There is a lot of impatience on what is happening in South Sudan, but we are on the right track.

We South Sudanese are the ones who are feeling the brunt of whatever is happening in terms of the implementation of the peace agreement. We think we are on the right track; we will try to fast-track some of these. When we signed the revitalized peace agreement in September 2018, many countries especially in the West never believed that this agreement was going to hold.  Here we are now, from 2018 next month it will be five years and the revitalized peace agreement is holding. That is more than a term for the U.S. President and if that can hold it is more to tell you that people are serious despite all the challenges that are there. Yes, we are slow in the implementation, but we are sure that we are going to achieve total peace in South Sudan.

Peace is also about trust; building trust after a time of conflict also takes time. We are progressing on the implementation of the security measures, we are also progressing on the constitutional process, and the political process is apt. Soon, there will be registration of these political parties and we go for elections so that the people of South Sudan choose the government that they will want to run the country.

What is the state of relations between South Sudan and the U.S.A. now?

Ambassador Jada Natana: The U.S. is one of those countries that helped us during our struggle for independence, though they came in a little bit late for that. Sometimes I think we in Africa are a little bit naïve because of our culture. The U.S. is deeply involved in providing humanitarian assistance to South Sudan, but they are getting fatigued now in giving this humanitarian assistance. That is why we keep calling for support to the peace agreement side so that we don't depend on the outside, especially for food.  We also have this feeling that sometimes the U.S. feels that we are not doing what they tell us to do. They might be right, but our reality is that with countries that come from a revolutionary background, we also have our agenda. We normally don’t do what others tell us to do but, we do what is good for us.

Our relationship with the U.S. has not been as good as it was before because they have this doubt and frustration from the conflict, but I have this strong belief that we will continue engaging with them as we implement our peace agreement. In the future when we now depend on ourselves and we have all these things and bring something to the table in the community of nations, people will look at us with more respect which I don't think is happening now. It is all about taking charge of our affairs and looking for allies. The U.S. has its interest and we as South Sudanese have our interest. The international stage is not the business of charity, when they give you something they expect you to do that.

With the humanitarian assistance that is being provided, every time we have meetings with our friends in Western countries, we are always reminded about the figures that are given to us in terms of humanitarian assistance. We feel grateful for the generosity but maybe it does not sit so well with us in the African context. But we will come out of that and that is the reality we need to wake up from.

What is your reaction to the recent State Department advisory cautioning U.S. businesses against doing business in South Sudan?

Ambassador Jada Natana: Unfortunately, the U.S. issued that business advisory at this time because what they have made is to create a vacuum for Western businesses in South Sudan. It is a natural law of nature that when there is a vacuum it is going to be filled. We already have people on the continent who are investing in South Sudan and have gone there for business. In so many of our meetings as Ambassadors from Africa with authorities from the U.S., there has always been this complaint that we are allowing the Chinese and giving them the opportunities to come and do sub-standard work in Africa. Our response has always been that if you don't invest in Africa or South Sudan, someone else will come and do that.

At the moment when we are expecting an economic conference to happen in South Sudan; we are trying to extend invitations to businesses here in the U.S. to go to South Sudan and look at the opportunities. While the U.S. says they do not direct businesses to go to South Sudan, now they have stated this, do you think businesses from the U.S. will go to South Sudan? Directly they are telling them not to go while at the same time, they will tell us to come and convince businesses to go to South Sudan. That is already a hindrance and leaves a vacuum that unfortunately is going to be occupied by anyone.

The reality for us Africans is that we are very forgiving. After a lot of brutality from the colonial masters, Africans forgave the countries and traded with them. We are looking forward to working with the Americans in terms of trade, it is going to be a win-win situation. If they invest in South Sudan, especially in the agricultural, mining and oil sectors, there is so much that they will find from there. While we are opening up business opportunities in South Sudan for everyone, we will continue to engage directly with American business people, and I am sure that one day some of them will go and find out that what they are being told is not the situation on the ground. They will come; it will be late but as they say, it is better late than never.

What is the investment climate like in South Sudan and for interested companies, what are some of the areas they may want to look out for when they come to your country?

Ambassador Jada Natana: The business climate is conducive in South Sudan. South Sudan is the only country on the continent if not the world that has got a very fast return on investment, especially in terms of real estate. There are other sectors that you look at such as supplies and infrastructure. If there was so much risk, nobody would want to invest. So many foreigners are investing in South Sudan in different fields; it is only that their capacities are a little bit smaller.

We would like to see more foreign direct investment coming from the West in terms of developing more power facilities because that is what we need; we need in agribusiness and farming. That is not happening at this moment but what we are doing now in South Sudan is cultivating trust so that when people come in, they can trust that they can do business and within this time this is how much we can make in terms of profit. These are the people who will be our ambassadors because when they go back, they will be able to say this is what I have as an investment. The atmosphere is conducive for businesses in South Sudan.

What is the role of indigenous South Sudanese companies like the Trinity Group in advancing the development goals of the country?

Ambassador Jada Natana: When you have indigenous businesses investing in South Sudan, they create employment and sometimes fill the gap. Trinity has been doing a tremendous job, especially when there is a shortage of fuel. We export oil from South Sudan, but we don't do refined products, so we have to import. Most of these businesses are dominated by foreign companies; the Somalis are leading in terms of importing fuel into the country. Sometimes when they have their situation and it doesn't become a priority, fuel prices go up and they don't make a lot of profits and the supply goes down. Trinity comes in to try to help to fill in the gap plus all the other businesses. Indigenous companies are doing so much in terms of helping to stabilize things in South Sudan.

What is the nature of your relations with the other Ambassadors from African countries and how do you balance your role advocating for South Sudan and working with them to advance continental-wide objectives?

Ambassador Jada Natana: I came to Washington in September 2018, and we always have to pay the courtesies and one of the stops is to see the dean of the diplomatic corps and then the dean of the African diplomatic corps. We have a group, the African Diplomatic Corps, ADC, a group that has all the Ambassadors on the continent and we have things that we share in common. For example, when there was the U.S.-Africa Summit, we met several times to see the issues we wanted. We had an African common position which we shared with all our capitals. We have continued lobbying for the African extension of the AGOA; some countries are eligible to and unfortunately, South Sudan is not now because of the conflict. When we negotiate about AGOA, we negotiate as Africa.

Besides having the ADC, we have our regional groupings. I have two groups: the East African Community Group and IGAD. We do our bilateral engagement as countries, but we also have this common ground as Ambassadors on the level of the African diplomatic corps and the East African Group. This sometimes makes it easier for us to be able to put our position as a continent.

Any other reassuring message you would like to send to those who remain skeptical and think that South Sudan is a basket case? Why should they have hope and faith in their country?

Ambassador Jada Natana: South Sudan is not a basket case, and it is good that we make the case here through media that represent the continent like Pan African Visions. Saying the continent is a basket case is all by design so that you take all the resources and keep the countries poor and for them to continue to supply you, it is a capitalist mentality. If we start making our chocolate in West Africa and sell it, what do you think the impact will be in the West? If we start to make our refined products like gas and also start mining and refining our gold and keep it as our reserves, what do you think will happen to the currencies of other countries that are dominating us today? Africa as a whole, not just South Sudan needs to wake up.

What is happening today in West Africa is not out of the blue; it is the frustration the young population are experiencing. We are now in the age of the internet where anybody can be able to find out what is happening. The West should not live in this delusion that they will continue to win over our leaders because we have a young population and if they get frustrated, they will say enough is enough.

What has happened in Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso should not be seen in isolation. Things are changing and I am sure if you talked to people on the continent, they had always blamed their leaders but now they are realizing that maybe there is some kind of remote control somewhere. Once they detach, the continent will change in a different direction.  We will continue in our African friendliness to reach out to our partners and friends that we want to do business with and work together because there are things that are shared.