In Conversation with Augustine Kenyi

Trade growth

South Sudan has benefited a lot from membership of the East African Community. This has opened doors to tariff-free trade with the region and removed barriers to the free movement of people, services, capital and assets.  

Several one-stop border posts are planned between Uganda and South Sudan, with one already open at Nimule, about 200km from Juba. 

This is helping trade via Mombasa, although we also export through Djibouti.

Investment

Now that the political situation has settled, we are seeing increased investor interest.

We already benefit from investment in the oil industry and export it to the European Union and China. 

But there are efforts to build local industry. Honey has been a success story. We have built a value chain and now export it outside the continent. Fish is also exported, mostly to the region.

Growth

We have many growth areas. One is agriculture, with 80% of people employed in the sector. We also have 14 national parks and mineral resources including gold, silver and diamonds.   

Increased energy generation will help our growth, with plans for hydropower plants along the River Nile.