South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Denis Ejulu
The government is looking towards shoring up non-oil revenues by diversifying its economy to hitherto unexploited natural resources such as the coveted Gum Arabic, fruit and vegetable sectors.
This comes as the youngest nation which relies 95 per cent on oil revenues to finance its annual fiscal budget, faces hurdles to exporting its crude oil through Port Sudan due to conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
William Anyuon Kuol, the national minister of trade and industry told The Dawn on Saturday at the Nimule border town with Uganda, that under the newly introduced South Sudan National Export and Investment Strategy they have identified Gum Arabic as an essential commodity to earn foreign currency as the country widens its sources of revenue.
“There are more people outside, interested in Gum Arabic, they were partners to the Sudan government but now they want that partnership with us,” Anyuon said during the opening ceremony of the branch of the Bank of South Sudan at the main border entry point.
He said that they have set up a plan, which will see the central bank purchase Gum Arabic from local producers in order to sell it to foreign markets to earn foreign currency and in turn stabilize the ailing economy.
“While we harvest this Gum Arabic there will be people that will take it from where it is, and then bring it to Juba and these people will buy it from Juba or also when having that capacity we will be able to take it outside because it is our commodity that we can export outside,” Anyoun said.
Gum Arabic is a complex mixture of glycoproteins and polysaccharides, predominantly polymers of arabinose and galactose. It is soluble in water, edible, and used primarily in the food industry and soft-drink industry as a stabilizer, with E number E414 (I414 in the US).
Gum Arabic is a key ingredient in traditional lithography and is used in printing, paints, glues, cosmetics, and various industrial applications, including viscosity control in inks and textile industries, though less expensive materials compete with it for many of these roles.
Anyuon said that he recently issued a ministerial order to regulate the harvest and export of Gum Arabic.
“I have formed regulatory body that will be able to regulate Gum Arabic, we will be able to harvest it and then sell it, it is another source that will also bring in foreign currency not only oil,” he said.
He also noted that they are looking forward to tapping into other unexploited natural agricultural resources such as honey, fruit and vegetable sectors that have ready markets in China, Japan and other Asian countries.
“You know people get honey outside and that honey is not fine, the kind of honey we have in South Sudan is natural so we are trying to make sure that it’s a product that we can export to bring also hard currency to the country,” Anyuon said.
“We have also hides and skins, and we have a lot of cattle most of the South Sudanese are cattle keepers and we do not benefit, even beef now being consumed is imported from outside but we should be the ones producing it and then exporting,” he added.
Anyoun said that from January to February, he visited China and Malaysia where he signed trade agreements with counterpart ministries of the two countries to supply food and fuel to Juba in a bid to mitigate the high prices of these highly demanded commodities.
“In January this year, we developed an action plan for the ministry and shared it with the President which he blessed. I went on to visit countries such as Malaysia and China to see if they would be able to support us in terms of these commodities that we need,” he said.
Since November 2023 to January 2024, South Sudan has been exporting about 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil to international markets, but currently its oil exports have been disrupted due to a blockade imposed on the Red Sea by Houthi militants, who have been attacking cargo ships since January.
Anyoun disclosed that his team while in Malaysia signed a MoU with Be Smart Company to secure 200,000 metric tons of food with already 50 trucks having entered Juba through the Nimule entry point.
“Our plan with them is to receive 28 trucks every two weeks and getting these 28 trucks of assorted commodities every week, we will be able to control this market, especially in Juba city, we also have a plan to supply the States with sorghum and grain because most of the States that are bordering Sudan, every day they receive returnees and refugees and the food they have is not enough,” he said.
He said they aim to supply the States and three Administrative Areas with sorghum to stabilize the market prices.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry has contracted local private companies including Ramcil Company to distribute and sell the food at affordable prices around designated centres in Juba and the States.
“We also have long- term plan whereby, we have decided to support entrepreneurs by giving them loans through micro-finance institutions, so when we give them loans we support the farmers so that they will be able to produce food because our main problem is that we don’t produce anything in our country, we even don’t produce food that we can eat and even to export,” Anyoun said.
“We have realized that our people are complaining that they don’t have capital and we decided that we support them with small loans, and if they manage it well is when we will concentrate on supporting them wherever they are,” he added.
Anyuon called on South Sudanese to produce food and other essential commodities in order for them to participate more in the local economy, thus reducing overreliance on foreign businesses to supply these essential goods.
“The kind of market that we have here is not good because when you look at most people doing trade, especially retail trade, these people are foreigners and our market should not be that way, so we have also decided that if we support our people the youth and women they will be present in the market,” he said.
