By Ebi Kesiena
South Sudan’s Minister of Trade and Industry Kuol Athian Mawien has described lack of infrastructure and insecurity as major hindrances to trade in the country.
The senior government official who was speaking during the 3rd trade fair exhibition dubbed “Made in South Sudan Exhibition” held at Nyakuron Cultural Centre in Juba said lack of electricity and others are posing difficulties to traders.
“Since we got our independence, we have insecurity in the country; there are some products in Western Equatoria that can’t be taken to Northern Bahr el Ghazal or Lakes State because of insecurity,” Kuol told the gathering.
The senior government official noted that due to the poor state of the road across the country, perishable goods are not reaching the market.
“The road network is not available in the country and we are not accessible to some states, our product can’t reach the market,” he said.
“In Northern Bahr el Ghazal, there are some products available but they can’t reach Western and Eastern Equatoria, and the same in Eastern Equatoria there are products that can’t reach Upper Nile and this is the problem facing us,” he added.
Also he stressed that acute power and water shortages hinder industrial trade.
“When a businessman come to South Sudan and want to establish industry there is a problem of power and the problem of water, we have power in Juba but it can’t cover the whole city,” he said.
