South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"

By Awan Achiek
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and European Union will be providing $120 million for infrastructure development for the import of electricity from neighboring Uganda to South Sudan, Themba Bhebhe, the Bank Group’s Country Manager for South Sudan, said.
Speaking to reporters in Juba yesterday, Bhebhe, said the two institutions are set to approve the funding by November this year.
“We are looking at probably 120 million in that project,” he said.
“The approval of financing is expected to be there in November this year.”
According to him, when completed, electricity tariffs in Juba will be reduced from a current 42 cents to 11 cents.
“I also want to mention, take advantage of it, that the next big project probably that you will see is the transmission line, electricity transmission line from Uganda to South Sudan,” Bhebhe said.
Implementation of the project will take between three and five years, he said.
“So the average tariff South Sudanese pay is four times higher than their counterparts in the region,” Bhebhe said.
He disclosed that the work will kick off in the second half of next year.
“There is a lot of preparatory work. This will be about a three to five-year program. So in the next three to five years, you will see significant improvement in this,” he said.
“So we are looking at our projection by the end of the year to have a portfolio commitment of about 300 million in South Sudan within the space of probably two years and so forth.”
In June 2023, Uganda and South Sudan signed a power sales agreement (PSA) to boost electricity trade between the two neighboring countries
The deal also included socio-economic development in the border towns of Oraba, Elegu, Kaya and Nimule.
A 400kV Olwiyo-Juba transmission line will pick up power from the Olwiyo substation in northern Uganda, which is already operational at 132kV, for distribution to Juba.