Peace increases economic activities in South Sudan

Nov 3, 2005 (YEI, southern Sudan) — The return of peace to southern Sudan has led to an increase in the population and economic activity of Yei River County in central Equatoria.

The executive director and acting commissioner for Yei River County, Aggrey Cyrus Kanyikwa, told Sudan Radio Service (SRS) during an exclusive interview that the return of former refugees and internally displaced persons seems to have caused an increase in business activity in Yei town.

Kanyikwa said that they did the survey in April and discovered that the population growth in Yei is 5,000 every month. A lot of people are now attracted to come home. Others are coming from Juba, others are coming from the north, from Uganda, and from Congo. Others are coming from countries like Europe and America, back home.

The other thing is that now we are realizing rampant construction taking place in the town. Shops are getting constructed and business is booming. The business capacity has expanded by 50 per cent from January and we are expecting that by December we will have another 50 per cent increase of business activities in Yei.

The acting commissioner says that Yei is now supplying Juba with food, and that the supply from Yei will increase next year.

(SRS/ST)