Juba Businesses Call for Quick AfCFTA Ratification

(JUBA) – More than 45 South Sudanese businesses have received training on the African Continental Free Trade Area, as pressure mounts on the government to ratify the agreement and open access to a market of 1.3 billion consumers.

The capacity building workshop began on 22 June 2026 and was organised by the East African Business Council together with the South Sudan National Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, in partnership with GIZ.

Enterprises from manufacturing, agriculture and agro processing, cosmetics, arts and crafts, trading, freight forwarding, transport and logistics took part.

Speaking at the opening, Mr Weiu Weiu Mou, Second Vice Chairperson of the national chamber, said the AfCFTA market presents major chances for South Sudan to broaden its exports and reach new destination markets across Africa, moving beyond the traditional East African Community partner states and oil exports.

He listed several products where South Sudan holds strong export potential under the trade area, including shea butter, gum arabic, natural and organic honey, sesame seeds, groundnuts, soybeans, and fish.

Mr Weiu called on the Government of South Sudan to move quickly to ratify the AfCFTA Agreement and to put the EAC Common External Tariff fully into practice.

He said the country was among the first to sign the agreement, but the delay in ratification is blocking private sector access to the continental market.

Mr Lamech Wesonga, Economic Policy Advisor on AfCFTA for the EAC, said GIZ remains committed to supporting private sector awareness of the agreement and its protocols so that businesses are ready to use the framework once South Sudan ratifies it.

Mr Adrian Njau, Trade and Policy Advisor at EABC, urged the private sector to keep pushing the government to speed up ratification while also preparing themselves for trade under the agreement. He said businesses should be ready to take up opportunities as soon as ratification happens, to make up for the seven years lost through the delay.

The three day workshop covered the AfCFTA Agreement, the Protocol on Trade in Goods and its annexes, and the opportunities and difficulties linked to entering AfCFTA markets.

Enterprises also learned about key EAC trade instruments, including the EAC Common External Tariff and the Simplified Trade Regime, which helps small cross border traders within the EAC to get simplified certificates of origin and trade documents more easily.