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Statement in full courtesy of Trustlie.
Date: September 25, 2023
To: The Public and All Concerned Parties
Subject: Clarification on Meeting Between HE. the President and Caltech Trading Corporation
Dear Citizens and Stakeholders,
We wish to address recent claims circulating in the media regarding a meeting that took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly between the President of the Republic of South Sudan and representatives from Caltech. These claims suggest that the government has finalized a $3 billion deal with Caltech. We would like to clarify the situation to provide accurate information to the public.
During the meeting between the President and Caltech, discussions did take place regarding potential investment opportunities in the Republic of South Sudan, with this being a courtesy meeting with H.E. the President. Discussions between the Minister of Finance and Caltech have been ongoing since August 2023, exploring various potential areas of cooperation. However, it is important to clarify that as of now, no formal agreement has been signed between the parties. The government of South Sudan remains committed to transparent and accountable processes in all its engagements, and any developments in this regard will be communicated to the public in due course. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that no final agreement or deal has been reached at this time.
The Government of South Sudan follows a transparent and thorough process when engaging in significant investment agreements. Any such agreements would require careful consideration, including legal and financial due diligence, as well as approval from relevant government bodies. As this has always been the standard procedures when engaging potential investment partners. As of now, no commitments have been made.
We understand the importance of providing accurate and timely information to our citizens and the international community. Therefore, we assure you that any developments related to this matter will be communicated through official channels in accordance with our nation's transparency and accountability standards.
In the meantime, we encourage the public and all concerned parties to rely on verified information from official govemment sources for updates on this matter. Speculative claims can lead to misunderstandings and confusion, and we are committed to ensuring that the people of South Sudan are well-informed about matters of national significance.
I’m very excited to be seemingly very wrong. Yet the fat lady still hasn’t sung yet. Let’s hope it’s music to our ears when she does.
Guess this will be corrected tomorrow? https://mofaic.gov.ss/news-releases/
Do these officials treat everything like a game? Well rest early tonight for more developments tomorrow. 😴
The ministry of foreign affairs website still shows the guy who was recently fired (Deng Dau Deng) as acting head. So we have new broom at MOFAIC (James Pitia Morgan since end of August) and Finance (Barnaba Baak Chol since 3 August) as well. I wonder where Puot Kang Chol, the eloquent minister for petroleum, is in all this. Btw, the central bank head was recently changed too.
Apparently, Kiir wants elections on schedule: https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/kiir-says-polls-to-be-held-on-schedule-4377898
This is all looking like an SS internal squabble. Savannah will need to RNS something, I think; though goodness knows what they can say. I imagine they'll wait until Friday when perhaps they'll have figured out t least some of what's going on. The chances of securing these assets now looks far more remote to me: I'll be delighted to be proven wrong (at a sensible price, of course).
Don’t believe we will see an rns till Friday and Savannah will not issue anything till Friday when interims are due as the caltech deal and news has been retracted by ministry of finance.
Here are all the possible scenarios that could play out:
1) We get admission document Friday without sign off (unlikely) as we know from various conversations on here Andrew prefers to come to the market with approval.
2) We get admission document with sign off (highly unlikely) unless they want to cover up the caltech fiasco quickly with superseded good news approving savannah.
3) We get another extension for 1 or 2 months more likely.
If the other work streams are complete than there will clearly be a decision to make here does the company wait till approval is granted when there is no legal requirement from a listing perspective to do so.
Our next update on SS is going to be alongside our interims so we will have to all wait till Friday.
In terms of the options available to SS. Unless SS can find a credible partner willing l to pay more than $1.25bn than they have a choice to make. My guess is if the deal has been in the works for more than 18 months then they must have tried finding other credible options but no one else is interested and out of all the players out there. So they will have to pull a rabbit out the hat if they want another buyer possible but is it probable………………. If it was probable then they would have announced a credible buyer like Exxon or chevron etc…………….. As supposed to a last ditch attempt with an American giant caltech……………..
It quite simple really if you look at it without the noise the grand question…….. Is there a credible buyer in the market willing to take on the risk of a jurisdiction like South Sudan and pay more than $1.25bn. Otherwise the only option that remains is Petronas slowly winding down the asset till production depletes without any new investment
Bit of background...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puot_Kang_Chol
https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/opinion-the-looming-collapse-of-peace-in-south-sudan
Obviously the opinion piece is one-sided but, together with the Wikipedia biography, it does tell us that Kiir and Kang Chol appear to be on different sides of the political table.
Https://www.datanyze.com/companies/caltech-trading/355852590
Blimey.
Like with all deals in africa approval has to be granted from the very top i.e. the president and his office.