VZCZCXYZ0009
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKH #1765/01 3421359
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY 080999/MSI3097)
O 071359Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2503
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001765 
 
DEPT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON, AF/SPG, AF/E, EEB/IFD, 
EEB/ESC/ESP, EEB/CBA 
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
DEPT PLS PASS TREASURY FOR OIA AND OFAC 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (TEXT) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN ECON PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI UNSC SU
SUBJECT: CITIBANK AND GOSS: OPTIMISM ON ALL SIDES 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  In a three-day visit to South Sudan, officials 
from Citibank Kenya conducted a series of productive meetings with 
senior Government of South Sudan (GoSS) officials in an effort to 
develop a relationship between the Bank of South Sudan (BoSS) and 
Citibank.   As Citibank officials used a "soft sell" approach to 
convince the GoSS of the utility of such a relationship, GoSS 
officials enthusiastically entreated them to open commercial 
branches in South Sudan. GoSS Vice President Riek Machar even went 
so far as to chide the group for not immediately erecting a Citibank 
sign to announce their intention to deal with the GoSS.  While the 
visit pointed out the deep shortcomings of the South Sudan banking 
sector, and several OFAC-related hurdles that need to be cleared 
before any real relationship can commence, Citibank officials 
returned to Nairobi optimistic and ready to return.  END SUMMARY. 
¶2. (SBU) In a meeting with CG Datta, Citibank Corporate Banking Head 
for Africa Asim Rana explained that Citibank intends to establish 
South Sudan as one of their "non-presence" countries, in which the 
bank operates in the country but through a correspondent bank, in 
this case the Juba-based Buffalo Commercial Bank.  In association 
with the correspondent bank, Citibank would initiate their 
operations in Juba by providing USD in cash to international 
organizations and NGOs, similar to what Citibank currently does in 
Khartoum, where it provides cash to UNMIS and UNAMID by delivering 
packaged dollars to Khartoum from Nairobi. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Additionally, Citibank sees a business opportunity in 
establishing a formal relationship with the Bank of Southern Sudan 
(BoSS), although Charles Macharia, Citibank's relationship manager, 
and Mary Sabwa, Citibank's East Africa head of sales, expressed 
concern that Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC) restrictions 
may hinder the relationship because while businesses in South Sudan 
are exempted from USG sanctions, technically the BoSS remains a 
branch of the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS), which will require 
Citibank to obtain an OFAC license. 
¶4. (SBU) Othom Rango Ajak, Director of Banking Operations and 
Foreign Exchange of the BoSS, told Citibank representatives that 
sanctions still require banks dealing with the BoSS to procure an 
OFAC license, a not entirely insurmountable hurdle, as the BoSS 
currently has SWIFT numbers and active accounts with four different 
banks - Kenya Commercial Bank, Stanbic Nairobi, Commercial Bank of 
Africa (Nairobi), and The Arab Investment Corporation (TAIC).  Ajak 
said that the CBoS and the BoSS hold oil revenues in a joint account 
at TAIC in Bahrain, and through their shared account at TAIC, the 
CBoS has stopped dealing in U.S. dollars, preferring to deal in Euro 
or pounds sterling.  In turn, demand for dollars in South Sudan has 
jumped to unprecedented levels recently, and currently the BoSS 
requires Stanbic to physically transport US$10 million in packaged 
cash to Juba every week.  Dier Nachong, deputy director of banking 
operations of BoSS, told Citibank that the South Sudan banking 
sector is highly inefficient: delays hinder the speed at which 
electronic transfers take place; commercial banks demand exorbitant 
fees for simple services; and competition is limited as 30 banks 
closed after South Sudan changed from Islamic to conventional 
banking. 
¶5. (SBU) Brutally honest about business practices in South Sudan, 
Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry John Luk Jok told Citibank 
representatives that South Sudan business leaders are weakened by 
their underdeveloped banking sector.  "Currently, they put their 
money into sacks and wait for the bus!"  The chairman of the GoSS's 
commercial oil corporation NilePet, Jok said NilePet's long-term 
goal is to create market security for oil coming from South Sudan. 
"The infrastructure for oil is all in the north. If South Sudan 
votes yes to independence in 2011, where does it leave us in terms 
of the oil that we have?  It leaves us vulnerable.  We must have oil 
refineries, and look at the market opportunities for our oil in the 
main markets in East Africa."  Citibank's Asim Rana, quickly assured 
Jok that Citibank is part of the financial consortium that is 
financing construction on Kenya's oil pipeline, and could assist 
similarly in South Sudan. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Kuol Athian Mawien, Minister of Finance and Economic 
Planning, explained to the Citibank representatives that he sees a 
role for Citibank in South Sudan because it can assist his ministry 
with its central issue - proper management of the oil revenue coming 
from Khartoum - in addition to helping to encourage 
foreign direct investment.  "In five years, we'll have so many 
foreigners here who can import and export.  When we have a pipeline, 
we will export our own oil.  So many investors are going to come," 
he boasted, and then stressed the importance of Citibank being a 
vital link as the private sector begins to take over from the public 
sector. 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Mawien detailed how the BoSS currently pays creditors 
through banks in Kenya to avoid using banks in Khartoum, but its 
balances within the banks in Kenya are non-interest bearing and 
subject to significant delays.  Additionally, South Sudan's currency 
reserve, kept in the BoSS, currently earns no interest as well, a 
problem which Citibank representatives said they could quickly 
remedy.  Mawien was amenable when Rana proposed opening an account 
for GoSS at Citibank in Kenya, saying he could quickly activate the 
account with a signed letter from the minister; the Citibank 
representatives pledged to act quickly to initiate the process. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Vice President of South Sudan Riek Machar welcomed Citibank 
representatives by blurting out following their introductions, "When 
can you start?"  He then went on to thoroughly needle the group on 
its intentions to operate a "non-presence" relationship with South 
Sudan out of Nairobi.  "So your non-presence presence is the same as 
being present?  People prefer a bank to be present, not a bank to 
deal with them on a hit-and-run basis," he told the representatives, 
who in turn stressed the case that a "non-presence" relationship 
would develop over time into brick-and-mortar banks throughout South 
Sudan.  Machar did admit that he saw a benefit to a relationship 
between the GoSS and Citibank - "If Citibank came, U.S. businesses 
would come," he said - but begged them to erect "even a CitiBank 
placard on a container.  If I made a press conference, and said, 'By 
the way, Citibank is in Juba,' do you know what would happen?  All 
the banks in Khartoum would move to Juba, and South Sudan would be 
an economic bastion of all Sudan." 
 
¶9. (SBU) Minister of Presidential Affairs Luka Biong Deng expressed 
delight at Citibank's visit, admitting that the fledgling 
semi-autonomous state's economy needs assistance in expanding its 
scope and creating demand for its products.  As South Sudan receives 
over US$400 million in foreign aid yearly, absent foreign direct 
investment, Deng views the growing shortage of dollars within South 
Sudan as a persistent burden Citibank could ease by establishing a 
"non-presence" through the correspondent Buffalo Central Bank.  Deng 
was honest about the shortcomings of South Sudan's banking sector, 
and was more supportive than his colleague Machar of opening a 
non-presence relationship.  "I think Citibank can be helpful by 
assisting the BoSS, and exploring how the BoSS can encourage 
microfinance.  For doing everyday banking business, we need 
assistance." 
 
¶10. (SBU) Following their meetings with GoSS officials, Citibank 
representatives expressed optimism that Citibank's Kenya offices 
would begin to turn their attention to the budding relationship with 
Juba, even beginning to calculate a rough return on its 
"non-presence" operations.  Using figures provided by the BoSS for 
the freight costs charged by Stanbic for U.S. dollar shipments from 
Nairobi to Juba, the representatives calculated that by offering the 
BoSS a better deal, and saving it the per dollar subsidy the BoSS 
currently provides to local banks, Citibank could earn US$1 million 
per year on cash transfers alone.  Their initial projections for 
profits based on business transactions with the BoSS indicated that 
Citibank may be able to bring in up to US$5 million in revenue a 
year, a number which far surpasses revenue from Citibank Kenya's 
next-highest earning client, a Nairobi-based telecommunications 
firm.  Envisioning that he and his colleagues would return at least 
every quarter, Citibank Kenya's Relationship Manager told Poloff, 
"We must strike while the iron is hot." 
 
¶11. (SBU) Comment: Post has strongly supported the creation of a 
robust banking sector in South Sudan as a necessary step to 
promoting real economic development in the region.  The lack of most 
basic financial services is a serious constraint on private-sector 
development and foreign investment, as was highlighted during the 
first ever U.S. trade delegation visit to Juba in October 2008. 
CitiBank's pledge to draft documents and set their Kenya office to 
work on establishing a mutually beneficial relationship is a 
powerful first step that can have a major impact on promoting the 
development of a strong private sector in Southern Sudan.  Given 
that the BoSS already has obtained SWIFT numbers and OFAC licenses 
to create relationships with international banking institutions, 
most likely Citibank will manage to obtain an OFAC license as well. 
Post would strongly support a decision by OFAC to permit Citibank to 
deal with the BoSS, as it would have positive ramifications 
throughout South Sudan, and simultaneously help to weaken Khartoum's 
economic stranglehold on the GoSS. 
 
FERNANDEZ