By William Madouk Garang
The leading telecommunication Network Company, Zain South Sudan is considering to spend 80 million US Dollars for improving telecommunication services in the Country.
Zain delegation led by the Managing Director and CEO for Africa, Elfatih Erwa revealed the plan during their meeting with the Minister of Information & Communication, Micheal Makuei Lueth on Thursday.
“Zain South Sudan has announced plans for investing 80 million USD for improving telecommunication services in the Country,” read statement on the Ministry of Information & Communication Facebook page.
Zain delegation also briefed the leadership of the Ministry on the activities and challenges hindering the expansion and enhancement of the services in South Sudan.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Zain South Sudan, Khalid Moneim said Zain is committed to work closely with the concerned authorities in order to improve the services.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the National Communication Authority, Napoleon Adok, asked Zain telecom Company to use technologies that can overpower the anticipated disasters.
“Consider the use of technologies that can overcome the expected natural disasters,” the NCA boss said.
The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Information Dr. Jacob Maiju Korok, Undersecretaries of Information and Telecom sector and the Secretary General for the Universal Service and Access Fund.
Before Digital joined the market, MTN and Zain were the only mobile telecom companies operating following the closure of Lebanese firm – Vivacell by the government in 2016 due to alleged unpaid arrears.
Observers said 21 years of brutal civil war with the then Sudan, left South Sudan with no or poor infrastructural development, specifically, technological development were left standstill.
According to DataReportal 2022, South Sudan population was 11.50 million but increased by 212 thousand (+1.9 percent) between 2021 and 2022, in which 49.9 percent are female while 50.1 percent of the population is males.
At start of 2022, 20.9 percent of South Sudan’s population lived in urban centers while 79.1 percent lived in rural areas.
It said that, there were 1.25 million internet users in South Sudan in January 2022, while internet penetration rate stood at 10.9 percent of the total population at start of 2022.
Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 3.27 million cellular mobile connections in South Sudan at start of 2022.
However, it noted that many people around the world make use of more than one mobile connection – for example they might have one connection for personal use, and another for office work.