South Sudan's efforts to digitize its oil trade permit and customs processes have sparked concerns about the integrity of cargo records across regional corridors. The digitization initiative aims to streamline the oil trade process, but its effectiveness depends on the ability to maintain accurate and connected records throughout the cargo's journey. According to Garang Malek Mayom, CEO of CapitalPay, a reliable digital oil-trade system requires that every document, fee, and amendment remains tied to the same cargo.
The World Bank has noted difficulties integrating South Sudan's customs platform with systems in Kenya and Tanzania, complicating cross-border oil freight tracking. This integration challenge is crucial, as a single cargo may pass through multiple institutions and countries before reaching its destination. Mayom emphasized that a cargo record must preserve all inputs used in calculations, including quantity, price basis, and applicable rate, to ensure accuracy and transparency.
South Sudan's customs digitization effort involves a customs management platform designed to interface with the national business registry and e-tax system. The platform aims to validate businesses and move trade records away from isolated manual processes. For high-value cargoes like crude oil, multiple records are accumulated, covering quantities, prices, permit numbers, commercial references, and payment details.
CapitalPay's permit and levy workflow describes a system where a fee is created under configured rules, and the payment reference is validated. The funds are matched to the relevant permit record, and settlement is logged for later review. However, Mayom distinguished between the role of technology and legal authority, noting that a software provider can administer references and audit trails but not decide on levy existence or collection.
The World Bank records show that South Sudan launched the customs management platform after the Ministry of Interior commissioned Crawford Capital to digitize customs administration. The platform aims to improve trade record accuracy and transparency. Mayom stressed that a reliable cargo record should display amendments rather than overwrite them, ensuring version history is essential for review.
Digital trade succeeds when a reviewer can reconstruct an entire shipment from the record alone, tracing the cargo, documents, valuation, payment, and corrections. Mayom argued that this can be achieved by maintaining a connected and transparent record of all transactions. CapitalPay International is expanding into Kenya, Tanzania, and South Sudan, developing payment, settlement, and compliance systems for various sectors.
CapitalPay has partnered with KIFWA on a proposed centralized platform for over 1,200 licensed clearing agents in Kenya. The company is also pursuing container deposit and cargo visibility solutions along the vital Mombasa–South Sudan trade corridor. With its expansion, CapitalPay aims to improve trade facilitation and compliance in the region.
Key points
- South Sudan's digital oil permits require accurate and connected records to ensure cargo tracking integrity.
- Integration difficulties between South Sudan's customs platform and systems in Kenya and Tanzania complicate cross-border oil freight tracking.
- A reliable cargo record must preserve all inputs used in calculations and display amendments to ensure transparency and accuracy.
