President Obama Removes South Sudan From The Beneficiaries Docket!

December 24, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — The president of the United States of America, Barack Obama, who designated South Sudan as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country, barely two years ago, has removed South Sudan from the beneficiary docket.

“In Proclamation 8921 of December 20, 2012, I designated the Republic of South Sudan (South Sudan) as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of section 506A(a)(1) of the 1974 Act.” the proclamation reads.

According to president Obama, South Sudan and Gambia do not meet the requirements and therefore they are removed from the list, effective from January 1st, 2015.

“Section 506A(a)(3) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3)), authorizes the President to terminate the designation of a country as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country for purposes of section 506A, if he determines that the country is not making continual progress in meeting the requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) of the 1974 Act.” said Obama.

Unlike South Sudan, which was designated by Obama himself in 2012, the Republic of the Gambia was designed in 2003 by President George W. Bush.

During this proclamation, on Dec 23rd, Obama has designated Guinea-Bissau as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country.

The reinstatement into the 14-year-old trade program will give Guinea-Bissau and other beneficiaries a duty-free access to U.S markets, commonly known as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), an opportunity that South Sudan hoped to benefit from.

According to the forecasts of the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2013, South Sudan was projected to be one of the world’s top five fastest-growing economies of 2014 alongside Mongolia, Macau, Sierra Leone and Turkmenistan, however, South Sudan returned to its old paths of deadly civil wars shortly in December, 2013.

For most parts of 2014, South Sudan’s bilateral relations with the western countries has been badly affected by human rights violations and restriction of humanitarian access to various parts of Greater Upper Nile region.

The United States, contrary, is lobbying against the UN sanctions to individuals in the two warring factions under Salva Kiir Mayardit and Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the principles on the two sides of the conflict.

US, however, has sanctioned individuals from both sides of the conflict, and according to the latest reports, Obama’s administration may impose sanctions on senior officials, including the principles, if the talks collapse in the new year, 2015.