Firms eyeing Sudan undeterred by Garang death
Firms planning to invest in southern Sudan remain bullish despite the death of former rebel leader John Garang, reassured that a key north-south peace pact is still in place and a successor appointed.
The former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) quickly named Garang's deputy, veteran commander Salva Kiir, as leader following his death at the weekend in a helicopter crash.
Dozens have been killed in riots in the northern capital Khartoum, since Monday when angry southerners took to the streets after the official announcement of Garang's death.
But southern Sudan has remained relatively peaceful, helping to boost investor confidence, officials said. Both the SPLM and the Khartoum authorities have since reaffirmed they would respect a January peace deal ending 21 years of north-south war in Africa's largest country.
Sudan is divided between an Arabised Muslim north and a south which is a mix of African ethnicities with Christians, animists and Muslims. The south has largely been without an official economy since 1983, when southerners took up arms.
The little economic activity seen there has been concentrated on the work of aid organisations.
Garang -- recently appointed first vice-president of Sudan -- had since January pushed to revive the economy, and his invitation to companies to invest in the region has received strong support.
SPLM secured a promising oil deal with London listed White Nile <WNL.L>in February but it sparked controversy with Khartoum disputing the SPLM's right to award oil deals. Other investment plans have been less controversial.
White Nile said on Monday it was sent a "very strong message from Sudan that... going forward it will be business as usual."
Oil production in Sudan, now at 320,000 barrels per day, comes mainly from fields in the south, where Chinese, Malaysian and Indian firms are big investors.
"Plans don't change overnight. As long as the peace agreement goes on, then nothing really changes," said Kepha Bosire, spokesman for Kenya Commercial Bank <KCBK.NR>.
The bank has approval from Kenya's central bank and plans to open a branch in southern Sudan's Rumbek town.
"We are just waiting for the setting of the Bank of Southern Sudan, which is able to license our business," Bosire said.
"We're going ahead with our plans. We will not let it affect us," said Paul Enright, a consultant with Nairobi-based Risk Management Initiatives.
"The way it's been handled by the SPLM is positive and mature. We see no reason to pause or to baulk at what we want to do in Sudan....I think they are giving every indication that there should be a continuation of investment plans that were laid down before the death of Garang," Enright said.
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Companies from Africa and beyond have been positioning themselves to exploit opportunities in southern Sudan, focusing on sectors as diverse as construction, oil, banking and farming, and hoping to share the billion of dollars pledged by donors.
Donors meeting in Oslo in April pledged $4.5 billion for 2005-07 to fund projects in the south.
"We are already present in southern Sudan. The Lokichoggio-Kapoeta-Juba Road is being constructed using Blue Triangle Cement -- one of our products," said David Maingi, a spokesman for East Africa Portland Cement <EAPC.NR>.
"It is truly full of potential, so that doesn't change anything. It (Garang's death) may delay the process because we'd have to wait till we have been assured of the peace process continuing."
One organisation that held an investment conference for the south in Nairobi in May said it had received more calls than normal expressing interest in the region since Garang's death.
"Our programme has just been jolted by this death of Dr. Garang. But it is a paradox that we are getting more inquiries from investors wanting to know what is happening on the ground. It has created more awareness about southern Sudan." said Malei Nthiwa, programme director of Bread of Life Africa.
Bread of Life Africa is a non-governmental organisation that promotes the south as an emerging investment haven after the peace deal.
Nthiwa said since the news of Garang death broke, his organisation had received 46 inquiries from potential investors compared to a daily average of less than 10.
Kenya, which hosted peace talks that led to January's agreement, is particularly keen to beat South African rivals in the race for opportunities in southern Sudan and aims to build a railway to connect its neighbour to its Mombasa port.
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