South Sudan acquires Djibouti port land for imports, exports
September 20, 2022 (JUBA) – South Sudan has acquired three acres of land at the port of Djibouti for the construction of a facility to handle the import and exportation of goods initially channelled through Mombasa port in Kenya.
The Vice President and Chairperson for Infrastructure Development Cluster, Taban Deng Gai said he was directed to travel with officials from relevant ministries and departments for talks with authorities in Ethiopia and Djibouti.
He said South Sudan intends to construct a facility to handle its import and export goods as Juba seeks to cut reliance on Mombasa and Port Sudan.
According to Gai, Bahr el Ghazal region is closer to Djibouti than to Mombasa port.
He said proper road networks will boost the exportation of South Sudan resources to international markets, including crude oil from the oil fields.
President Salva Kiir directed Gai and his team to engage the governments of Djibouti and Ethiopia to enable South Sudan to access the port of Djibouti.
“He [Kiir] urged the team to engage the two countries to support the peace roadmap and work closely on other bilateral engagements,” said Gai.
He stressed the importance of bilateral relations with Djibouti and Ethiopia, citing infrastructural projects like roads connecting Pagak- Mathiang-Malakal – Bentiu- Gogrial as well as fibre optic and ports along Nile River.
Petroleum minister, Puot Kang Chol said that the government is ready to facilitate and stock goods destined for South Sudan through Djibouti port.
“As we have been pushing to make sure we open all our ways because as we all know South Sudan is a landlocked country and therefore, there is need for us to try our level best to have access to the market,” he said during the 5th South Sudan Oil and Power conference in Juba last week.
“We were only using Port Sudan and Mombasa but recently, we decided to go to Djibouti and as I speak, we were given land in Djibouti,” he added.
He said the three-acre land was procured by the Ministry of Petroleum for the purpose of exporting the country’s crude oil as well as importing goods.
Landlocked South Sudan is reportedly the second country in terms of cargo throughput volumes at the Mombasa port, accounting for 9.9% of transit volumes.
(ST)