South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Okech Francis
When Shangdong Hi Speed, a Chinese construction company operating in South Sudan picked up the contract to construct a new headquarters for the Central Bank, Stephen Wani was one of the Juba residents who got employment.
The 34 year old was unemployed and had a family of five people to feed daily but now Wani relishes every single day that he fills their bellies.
“Live had been tough when trying to make ends meet but I am glad this work has been very helpful in solving much of my problems,” Wani told The Dawn on a visit to the construction site in Juba recently.
“Nobody goes hungry in my house anymore, I don’t have a problem with taking care of the treatment of my children and I can afford their school fees,” he said.
Shandong Hi Speed has been working in the infrastructure development in South Sudan and recently notably in the construction of the 700 kilometer highway between the capital Juba and Lakes State’s capital Rumbek.
At the new Central Bank Headquarters construction, Wani is one of about 700 people already employed in the construction work, mostly South Sudanese.
Arguably, if each of the employed people have at least 5 others to take care of, then the project may be directly benefiting 3500 people. It employs professionals in the different sectors including construction, electrical installation, plumbing and Information Systems installation among others. Nonprofessionals are also providing much needed work as helpers or porters among others as well.
The Central Bank building construction which began in 2022 is a 12 storey colossus that arguably dwarfs all sister institutions in the region. It is set to be unveiled later in the year.
It’s one of the many projects Chinese companies are working on in the country and part of the cordial bilateral relationship the two countries share.
Chinese firms are working in several institutional infrastructure development projects including at Juba International Airport, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, constructions of highways and so many other development initiatives.
The building is part and parcel in the growth and development ongoing in South Sudan and attracting regional and international interest in its economic stakes, the Governor of the Central Bank, James Alic Garang told a press conference in Juba.
“That headquarter is one of the key signature projects that this country has got,” Garang said, adding, “as a bank, we take pride in continuity, in building on what has been started on initiating something that we think will add value to what we do and to the country.”
“We are a country developing in so many ways including infrastructure. As we grow, the bank is also growing and there is a need for us to have a large space to expand, to do a number of things and to have an image of the country at heart, but beyond the image it is also having a new structure that adds value in terms of what we will be doing there,” he said.
South Sudanese workers making concrete at the construction site of the Central Bank
“So for us, the headquarters is a big plus for the bank, for the people of South Sudan and for the country and even for the region.”
In South Sudan, with a dire economic situation and lack of employment for many, such construction projects resolve a lot of problems for many people like Geoffrey Okello who is a helper at the site.
“My work is to always be here to do the work and with the money I get, every other plan falls in place,” Okello told The Dawn.
“I am comfortable and my family is okay,” the 31 year old father of 3 said.
