Africa's poorest country faces $1 billion battle in U.S. court over war-era loan default from Qatar
Qatar National Bank (QNB) has initiated legal action in the U.S. to enforce a $1 billion arbitration award against South Sudan
South Sudan defaulted on a $700 million wartime loan from QNB, which has accrued additional debt due to penalties and interest.
South Sudan's civil war severely impacted the economy, reducing GDP significantly and causing widespread challenges
The petition, filed in a U.S court in Washington, D.C., follows South Sudan's failure to repay a $700 million loan obtained from Qatar during the height of its civil war, a debt that, with interest and penalties, has now ballooned to over $1 billion.
The original loan was intended to stabilize South Sudan's fragile economy during a period of intense internal conflict.
However, nearly a year after an international tribunal under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled in favor of QNB, South Sudan and its central bank have reportedly neither paid the award nor challenged it.
QNB's move to seek enforcement in the U.S. has revealed the growing frustrations over the lack of compliance and highlights how sovereign debt disputes are increasingly playing out on global legal stages.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), South Sudan had the lowest GDP per capita in 2025, making it one of the poorest countries in Africa. Thus, the $1 billion court case with Qatar National Bank (QNB) over an unpaid wartime loan reflects the severity of the country's economic crisis.
If the U.S. court agrees to uphold the award, South Sudan could face asset seizures or further diplomatic pressure to meet its obligations.
The South Sudan war
The South Sudanese civil war, which ran from December 2013 to February 2020, began as a political clash between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar, but quickly turned into an ethnic conflict between the Dinka and Nuer.
Coming just two years after independence in 2011, the war exposed the country's weak institutions and deep divisions.
Beyond the human cost of over 400,000 deaths and millions displaced, the economy lost more than $28 billion in GDP between 2013 and 2018. Oil production which is South Sudan's main revenue source, plunged, inflation soared, and public services collapsed as the war devastated infrastructure and drove away investors.
The loan dispute
South Sudan's loan dispute with Qatar National Bank (QNB) began after independence in 2011, when the country secured credit to fund essential imports.
Shortly after becoming a nation in 2011, South Sudan and its central bank secured loans from QNB to fund critical imports such as food, medicine, and refined oil. When the civil war erupted in late 2013 and oil revenues collapsed, QNB extended additional credit, including a $250 million top-up.
By 2015, South Sudan began defaulting, prompting two debt renegotiations. The final 2018 agreement consolidated the loans into a $700 million, 15-year facility, with repayments set to begin in March 2019. After drawing down about $659.8 million, South Sudan missed its first payment, triggering a formal arbitration process.
QNB filed a claim in 2020 under ICSID rules. Following hearings in London, the tribunal ruled in January 2024 that both South Sudan and its central bank had breached the loan terms.
A final award issued in May ordered them to pay over $1.02 billion, including principal, interest, and legal costs.
Despite the ruling, QNB says South Sudan has neither paid nor contested the award.
According to court filings reviewed by SudansPost, QNB argues that under U.S. law and the ICSID Convention, the arbitration award must be enforced 'like a final court judgment. ' The bank says South Sudan waived any sovereign immunity t hrough its contract and ICSID membership.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
Federal Judge Halts Trump Plan to Deport Migrants to South Sudan: Report
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Friday from deporting eight migrants to South Sudan, just hours before their scheduled removal. The emergency order, issued by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, came one day after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the deportations, prompting a last-minute legal challenge from the migrants' attorneys, Reuters reported. The men—none of whom are South Sudanese—have been held for weeks at a U.S. military base in Djibouti. U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a rally to kick off the July Fourth holiday weekend at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on July 03, 2025 in Des Moines, Iowa. U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a rally to kick off the July Fourth holiday weekend at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on July 03, 2025 in Des Moines, story is breaking. More to follow.
New York Post
25-06-2025
- New York Post
Wall Street bigshot who hired SBF 'defrauded' into funding South Sudan coup plot
Robert Granieri — the co-founder of trading firm Jane Street Group, which once gave jailed crypto titan Sam Bankman-Fried his big break in finance — was allegedly deceived into funding a plot to purchase AK-47s, Stinger missiles, and grenades for a coup in South Sudan, according to court papers. Federal prosecutors in Arizona first charged Harvard Fellow Peter Ajak and Abraham Keech in March 2024 with conspiring to illegally export arms to South Sudan, their home country, to overthrow its government. Both have pleaded not guilty. 6 Abraham Keech (left) and Peter Ajak (right) are accused of conspiring to illegally export arms to South Sudan. Both men deny the allegations. US District Court of Arizona Granieri, 53, allegedly provided $7 million in two payments after meeting Ajak in February 2024 at a Midtown Manhattan condominium, prosecutors said. Ajak's lawyers stated in a May court filing, which was reviewed by The Post and first reported by Bloomberg, that Granieri's financing was 'vital to the plan.' They claimed in the May 29 court document that without his support, the alleged conspiracy would have been impossible. The attorney for the Jane Street founder, whose firm hired now-convicted fraudster and former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried in 2013, claimed he was misled by Ajak, whom he believed was a human rights activist. 'Granieri is a longtime supporter of human rights causes,' his lawyer was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. 'In this case, the person Rob thought was a human rights activist defrauded Rob and lied about his intentions.' 6 Jailed fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried got his big break on Wall Street in 2013 with Granieri's firm, Jane Street. REUTERS The case also references chess champion Garry Kasparov, though he is not named as a defendant nor accused of any wrongdoing, for allegedly connecting Ajak with Granieri through their shared work with the Human Rights Foundation. Ajak, a former child soldier who resettled in the US, studied at Harvard's Kennedy School and worked as a World Bank economist before becoming a South Sudanese opposition activist. He and Keech allegedly met with an undercover agent and inspected weapons in a Phoenix warehouse before their arrest, the May 29 motion said. 6 South Sudan, slightly larger than France, became the world's youngest country in 2011 after seceding from Sudan following more than 20 years of civil war. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images 6 A DOJ handout that shows some of the weapons that were allegedly set to be sent to the fledging, war-torn African nation. US District Court of Arizona Defense attorneys allege US authorities were aware of the plan, citing a 'public authority' defense and claiming that the State Department told Ajak in October 2023 it would not support non-democratic regime change. They also accused prosecutors of selectively targeting Ajak and Keech, both black men, while sparing Granieri and Kasparov. The financing was allegedly arranged through meetings, including some at the law firm Paul Hastings, where Ajak's former pro bono attorney, Renata Parras, worked, according to the May filing. 6 The court documents allege that Garry Kasparov, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, helped facilitate introductions on Granieri's behalf. REUTERS PR guru Michael Holtzman, who previously advised the State Department, also attended some meetings, the filing claims. Prosecutors have not accused Parras or Holtzman of any wrongdoing. The Post has approached Holtzman and Parras for comment. South Sudan, slightly larger than France, became the world's youngest country in 2011 after seceding from Sudan following more than 20 years of civil war. The conflict displaced millions of people and drew attention from human rights activists across the globe, including actor George Clooney. 6 An estimated 400,000 people have died in the conflict in South Sudan since 2013, according to human rights groups. AP Despite its independence, South Sudan has struggled with continued violence between rival forces over the past 15 years. Jane Street, known for its $20.5 billion in net trading revenue last year, has drawn attention for its success and Granieri's philanthropy, including support for human rights causes and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Granieri, one of the firm's four founders and the only one still working there, also supported causes backed by Kasparov. Despite the company's prominence, he maintains a low profile and is not featured on its website. Jane Street is a quantitative trading firm, meaning its traders use mathematics and statistics to determine how to bet on certain assets or financial markets. It boasts to be 'a firm of puzzle solvers on and off the clock' and has even seen its profits surpass those of major banks such as Bank of America or Citigroup, allowing Granieri to fund ventures like the Scarlet Pearl casino resort in Mississippi.
Business Insider
25-06-2025
- Business Insider
Russia marks formal diplomatic entry into Africa's youngest country
The Russian Federation is set to inaugurate the mission between September and October 2025, marking a pivotal step in Moscow's growing engagement with Africa's youngest nation. This move signals Russia's formal diplomatic entry into South Sudan and reflects its broader ambition to strengthen political, economic, and security ties across the continent. It also aligns with Moscow's strategic posture of deepening partnerships in the Horn of Africa amid shifting global alliances. South Sudan's Ambassador to Russia, Chol Tong Mayay, announced the embassy plan during a farewell meeting with a delegation from the Ministry of Information, Communication Technology & Postal Services. The delegation had just returned from participating in the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF'25), which concluded the previous week. Ambassador Mayay urged Juba to strengthen economic ties with Moscow, calling Russia a reliable and strategic partner. He noted that scholarships for South Sudanese students have increased from five to 25 this year, part of broader efforts to build human capital and deepen cooperation in areas such as energy, infrastructure, defense, and education. South Sudan welcomes move South Sudan's government has welcomed the move, describing it as a strategic step that could unlock new avenues for cooperation in areas such as energy, infrastructure, and defense. The planned embassy will serve as a permanent diplomatic mission, replacing Moscow's current arrangement of managing relations through its embassy in neighboring Ethiopia. Russia's engagement with South Sudan has grown steadily, in line with its broader push to expand influence in the Horn of Africa. During a meeting in Moscow last year, President Vladimir Putin described relations with Juba as developing ' intensively,' noting that Russia was among the first to recognize South Sudan's independence. Ambassador Mayay further revealed that between May and June 2025, Russia and South Sudan signed several agreements and memoranda of understanding focusing on mineral extraction and petroleum exploration.
