South Sudan’s market economy since 2005 up to date is largely owned by foreign nationals and companies with investments in different sectors.
For the benefit, the government generates revenues by taxing these foreign businesses, and citizens rely entirely on goods and services from them. With other benefits, foreign investments have created some little economic growth and access to goods and services that originate from outside the country.
However, the infant industries here appear to be non-existent, and the investments from the indigenous people did not spur any economic growth, leaving the economy entirely in the hands of foreign businesses with financial muscles. In other countries, foreign investments bring them capital, technology, and expertise with the possibility of technology transfer to benefit local businesses and industries, but here the likelihood is low or does not exist. Given the political environment, clean multi-billion-dollar direct foreign investments in our economy are challenging, and some investors reconsider their decisions because of the associated risks.
South Sudanese are over-reliant on foreign traders, which has hindered the development of local businesses and industries and made us economically dependent and vulnerable. When South Sudanese protested last week against the killing of their citizens in Sudan, some protesters targeted the Sudanese shops and businesses in Juba and some parts of the country; their action disrupted the markets, and most businesses completely shut down except for a few that belong to the citizens and other nationalities. The prices of goods, services, and hard currency shot up immediately.
The protesters did not put in their minds that they were disrupting something they didn’t have control over, and even if they had, it was still unacceptable for them to destroy. Again, in a sign of vulnerability, when the Financial Act, 2024/2025, was rolled out for implementation with biting tax levies on goods and services, foreign traders protested at the Nimule border with Uganda. The traders refused to enter South Sudan, and a queue of trucks loaded with goods stood still at the border point. Their actions made the NRA reconsider the implementation of the Act until further notice because the markets were disrupted, and prices shot up uncontrollably, and South Sudanese felt the pain. The NRA intervened to rescue the situation, which was getting out of hand, but it also laid bare powerful foreign traders’ influence on government policies, potentially undermining national interests simply because South Sudanese do not own the economy.
In this case, the government needs to create an environment that empowers local businesses to compete with foreign investments in the country; otherwise, we are vulnerable. In addition to that, the government must carefully manage foreign investment and trade to ensure that it benefits the country and its people.
God Protect South Sudan!
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