Trade between Uganda and South Sudan is on an upward trend following recent years of conflict and turbulence. Traders, many of them informal, who ply the Kampala-Juba trade route, say business has picked up significantly, although not up to pre-2015 levels.
Davin Angutia, a logistician at Arua Park business hub in the centre of Kampala says that the volume of both travelers and goods to Juba is steadily going up. Angutia says November and December saw heightened trade activities between Uganda and South Sudan compared to the previous years, adding that it was reminiscent of the good old days.
According to Angutia, the biggest challenge traders are facing is border red tape by Sudanese customs and security officials.
Food trader Jude Mubiru says although business is picking up, the cost of doing business is still high, worsened by the shilling-pound conversion.
Between 2005 and 2015, trade between Uganda and South Sudan grew by leaps and bounds, to the extent that South Sudan became Uganda’s biggest trading partner with trade volumes hitting over USD 400 million.
All that changed when war broke out in December 2015 till last year when a peace agreement, albeit shaky, was brokered between the government of Salva Kiir and his nemesis Dr Riek Machar.
According to the UN COMTRADE website, in 2017 trade between the two countries had plummeted to just over USD 100 million.
Uganda’s main exports to South Sudan include foodstuffs, sugar, vegetable fats and oils, equipment, clothing, steel products, furniture and used vehicles, amongst others.
At Arua and Nebbi business parks in Kampala, dozens of trucks can be seen being loaded with merchandise destined to South Sudan. With lots of trade informal, the real value of trade between Uganda and South Sudan is much more than official figures.
