Category: Economy

Some South Sudanese have expressed worries of losing thousands of US dollars after an online company known as Silcone Valley Shares they invested in reportedly suspended its business.

On Friday, the alleged investment firm headquartered in San Francisco and New York ceased its website which resulted in the suspension of many accounts.

It is not clear when Silicone Valley Shares established its network in South Sudan.

But the company claimed it has ventured into a capital firm with more than 6.4 billion US dollars in assets across the globe since 2010.

The firm in its initial marketing plans said, its investment was focusing on markets where technology, innovation and capital can unlock long-term value and drive economic growth.

The procedure required to create an online account by filling a form with their details and select small, mid, ,big or VIP capital plans.

An unspecified number of South Sudanese have reportedly subscribed to the network and deposited different amounts in anticipation to reap profits.

Those who opted small capital plan invested between 50 and 500 US dollars and expected to earn 345.6% in interest rate in 8,640 hours.

While those who chose a medium capital plan deposited 600 to 2,000$ and expected to earn 518.4% in a month.

And investors who selected big capital plan deposited between 2,100 to 20,000 and were to earn 691.2% in 8,640 hours.

The last stage, the VIP capital plan were for those who intended to invest between 25,000 to 100,000 Us dollars with a profit margin of 864% in a month.

One of the subscribers who spoke to Eye Radio on condition of anonymity said she put 4,200 US dollars into the company two months ago.

But the duration elapsed before the company suspended online trading.

“I haven’t got what I invested for me to even get the profit because two months have not erupted yet. I was expecting by the end of this month I will be able to retain by money and then after that, I will be able to get a profit.

She is now demanding the company clarify the status of her capital investment.

“If they feel like the company is not going to fulfill their promises as they claimed, then at least they should refund everything that we have invested,” she implored.

Another subscriber who preferred to be identified only as Jonny says he has not been able to access his account since Friday.

“On Friday afternoon I tried to log into the system and the system told me that it has been suspended. I thought maybe it was network, after some hours it showed that this account has been suspended because they have this kind of system that you have to check what is going on and all this,”

“So I thought it was network, I also change my network and went for Wi-Fi and it was the same thing.”

This morning [Monday], some of the investors stormed the Juba-based Silicone Valley Shares office demanding an answer to the matter.

“I also found one of my colleagues who was crying and also complaining the same. Up to today, there is nothing that we have seen, ” said the second interviewee.

Eye Radio repeatedly contacted the Juba-based Silicone Valley Shares office for a comment, but several phone calls went unanswered.

The South Sudanese pound is the third worst performing currency after Sudan’s and Zimbabwe’s dollar in the latest ranking of African currencies against the US dollar.

In a report published by Business Insider Africa, the Zimbabwean dollar has rated the 1st worst-performing currency in Africa followed by the Sudanese pound with South Sudan’s being 3rd.

The report was based on research by a professor at Johns Hopkins University that investigated the value of African Currencies during the 1st quarter of the year.

Every week, Steve Hanke, a Professor of Applied Economics and Director of the Troubled Currencies Project in the United States, publishes Hanke’s currency watchlist – a group of currencies that have depreciated by at least 20% against the dollar since January 2020.

In his latest list, he found out that the Zimbabwean dollar has depreciated against the US Dollar by 97.33% since Jan. 2020, whereby he suggested that “Zimbabwe dump the Zim dollar and adopt the USD immediately.

The Sudanese pound which comes second has depreciated against the USD by 84.95% since Jan 2020.

He suggested that Sudan’s pound & its economy install a currency board to address the challenge.

Meanwhile, South Sudanese pounds have depreciated against the USD by 50.79% since Jan 2020-something Hanke said, the country is experiencing an economic death spiral that never ends.

According to the ranking; Nigeria, Ghana Malawi, and Sierra Leon currencies came 4th, 5th, and 6th, respectively, experiencing depreciating rates at 42.57%, 39.54%, and 31.23% correspondingly.

In summary, Hanke state that the depreciation in “exchange rates in ten African countries will have a substantial influence on companies’ operations and profitability.

He added that the exchange rate volatility will affect not just multinationals and large corporations, but also affects small and medium-sized enterprises, including those who only operate in their home country.

Hanke advised that, while understanding and managing exchange rate risk is a subject of obvious importance to business owners, investors should also be familiar with it because of the huge impact it can have on their holdings. –