Kenya urges investors to exploit potential in southern Sudan

NAIROBI, May 12, 2005 (Xinhua) — The Kenyan government on Thursday called on investors to capture the new lucrative market in southern Sudan, whose potential has been unlocked by the peace accord signed in Kenya early this year.

Speaking at the opening of a two-day business forum to sensitize investors on the opportunities in southern Sudan following the comprehensive peace agreement signed in January in Nairobi, Kenya’s Planning Minister Anyang Nyongo said the vast region has numerous investment opportunities that Kenyans will find irresistible.

“There are opportunities in key sectors — service, manufacturing, transport, building and construction, energy and others. The trade opportunities are there,” he told the forum of leading industrialists from Kenya and Sudan.

The minister said the role regional investors and traders can play in the development of southern Sudan cannot be underestimated.

“Southern Sudan has enormous investment opportunities. Since Sudanese have been living in Kenya, anything made in Kenya will definitely sell in Sudan. Even small traders will have a big market for their wares,” the minister said.

The minister said the east African nation, which has been the center of relief operations to southern Sudan, was likely to witness a shift from relief-oriented to actual growth-oriented business.

However, the manufacturers cited various constraints that could limit the realization of the east African nation’s full export potential to southern Sudan.

These constraints include poor infrastructure, legalization of commercial documents, availability of market information, including potential buyers and distribution outlets, language, conformity to packaging requirements and the acquisition of entry visas by both Kenyan exporters and Sudan importers.