Uganda to build trade centre in Sudan’s Juba
By Esther Nakkazi
Jan 14, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Uganda’s trade with Southern Sudan is expected to double this year when the country opens a trade centre in Juba.
The Uganda trade centre will promote Ugandan exports in the Sudanese market and spur investment. The move comes as informal business between the two countries is experiencing boom but with however no proper channels or site to operate from.
Uganda’s ambassador to Sudan, Mull S. Katende said, “The Sudan market is new and it means a lot to us. That is why we have to find ways of formalising and sustaining the growing trade. The trade centre will build consumers’ confidence in our products, increase volumes and promote product consistency.”
Uganda officials based in Sudan say they have already acquired over 20 hectares of land in Juba and a prominent Ugandan businessman has been contracted to construct the centre, which will then be let out to business people.
The trade centre will have show- rooms, shops, promotional centres and warehouses. All Ugandan exports to Sudan will be found at the centre.
We have already signed a co-operation agreement with Sudan and hope the trade centre will help organise trade between the two countries and double the volumes,” said Katende.
Currently, some 100 trucks — 60 through Oraba and 40 through Nimule — travel to Southern Sudan daily carrying foodstuffs, construction materials, groceries and beverages from Uganda and Kenya
Officials at the Uganda embassy in Khartoum said over 5,000 Ugandans are employed in southern Sudan as taxi drivers, electricians, teachers, social workers, builders and artisans.
Katende said the value of the trade between the two countries is yet to be ascertained as the trade is not yet formal and there is no documentation being done.
However, he said, Customs checks at the border points will soon be strengthened to collate correct figures for the volume of trade.
Uganda is also in the final stages of joining the Free Trade Area of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). Under the Comesa-FTA, 14 Comesa member states have removed Customs tariffs, quotas and other restrictions to the free flow of trade.
Kenya, a member of the Comesa-FTA, gets duty-free access to the Sudan market for goods that qualify under the Comesa Rules of Origin, while Uganda does not. Southern Sudan is now setting up formal trade.
“However, with the institutions developed, Uganda stands to lose out to Kenya because the latter’s goods come to Sudan at zero rates,” said Katende.
Uganda’s exports to Sudan include coffee, tea, fish, beverages, human resource and agricultural produce, while Kenya’s basic export to Sudan is tea.
Uganda’s entry into the Comesa-FTA will be expected to increase its exports to Sudan by 100 per cent because they will be zero-rated like Kenya’s goods.
Both Kenya and Uganda have opened consulates in Juba. Uganda and Sudan revived their trade relations last year and signed a joint trade agreement. Previously relations between the two countries had deteriorated with accusations that each was supporting rebels in the other’s country.
All 20 Comesa member states were expected to have ratified the FTA by 2005; however, Uganda has delayed doing so, raising concerns among manufacturers and traders.
Uganda’s exports to Comesa are charged 80 per cent tariff reduction because it is not a member of the FTA.
(The East African)