JOHANNESBURG - Greater inflow of capital and technology is needed into South Sudan to boost its recovery and stability after years of civil conflict, the executive chairman of the African Energy Chamber NJ Ayuk has said.
In a keynote speech at this week's South Sudan Oil & Power Conference & Exhibition in the capital Juba, Ayuk, who is also chief executive of pan-African corporate law conglomerate Centurion Law Group, urged all political factions in the country to make concessions and respect a 2018 peace deal.
“The presence of oil should incentivize dialogue between all parties to the current conflict and push for resolution of minor differences to be resolved,” he said.
He called on the government to continue working towards creating an enabling environment for businesses in order to attract investment.
“South Sudan’s oil industry will do even better when there is a good governance, free-market capitalism, limited-government and individual freedoms because it helps the people at every level of society to prosper," said Ayuk.
"The government and the oil industry must embrace it and respect the sanctity of contracts."
He cheered China National Petroleum Corporation's recent discovery of 300 millions barrels of oil in South Sudan, saying he hoped to see the government speed up approvals for field development plans.
The African Energy Chamber is supporting several domestic capacity building initiatives in one of the world's newest countries.
"It is important to encourage young men and women who find opportunities, have ideas for innovative services in oil and gas, those who have the courage to deploy capital, accept risk, and make it happen. They deserve to be supported," Ayuk told this week's conference, echoing comments made in a column he wrote earlier in the week.
"You can’t be a true oil man if you don’t support women to grow in the industry. When we support women in oil and gas we support the African family because women invest more in the family unit today in Africa."