(KAMPALA, UGANDA) – Uganda and South Sudan have signed a trade memorandum of understanding, with both sides pledging to ease border delays and costs facing traders along the route between the two countries.
The agreement was signed on Wednesday in Kampala at the second Uganda-South Sudan Business Forum and Exhibition.
The forum was held at Mestil Hotel under the theme of easing the cost of doing business and unlocking regional market opportunities.
Uganda’s Minister of State for Industry David Bahati and South Sudan’s Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Labanya Margaret Mathya signed the agreement.
Officials said the deal covers trade promotion, information exchange, investment facilitation and follow up on agreed commitments.
Uganda’s Ambassador to South Sudan Brigadier General Ronnie Balya said joint technical committees will be set up to oversee implementation.
He said the committees are intended to ensure there is no laxity once delegates return home.
They will be backed by a joint communique and a roadmap with timelines and measurable outcomes for resolving border issues.
Regular review meetings will also be held.
Bahati said the agreement must be judged by what it achieves.
“We should judge the success of the MoU not by the signing ceremony alone,” he said.
He said the test would be the trade barriers resolved, the investments realised, the businesses established and the jobs created.
Bahati said the deal should provide a practical foundation for regular consultations and a systematic forum for agreeing commitments between the two governments.
He said trade remains heavily one sided, with Uganda exporting goods worth $524 million (SSP 3.4 trillion) to South Sudan while South Sudan exports $22 million (SSP 143 billion) worth to Uganda.
“We need South Sudan. As much as you need us, we also need you,” he said.
He attributed part of the gap to population, which he put at 46 million for Uganda and 12.4 million for South Sudan.
Bahati said Ugandan traders and transporters continue to report delays linked to South Sudan’s electronic permit system.
He also cited repeated cargo verification, multiple checkpoints, unofficial charges and inconsistent clearance procedures along the Kampala-Gulu-Nimule-Juba corridor.
Bahati called for an urgent review of the e-permit system to improve transparency.
He said the review should end duplicate assessments and payments, clarify charges and establish a way of resolving disputes.
He said a one stop border post Uganda built at Elegu could not deliver its full benefits without matching facilities and coordinated operations at Nimule on the South Sudanese side.
He also urged the two countries to trade goods they produce themselves rather than re-export imports.
He called for cooperation on steel production, saying Uganda spends about $1 billion (SSP 6.5 trillion) a year on steel imports and that both countries have large iron ore deposits.
Dr Labanya thanked Uganda for hosting her delegation.
She said Uganda remains one of South Sudan’s priority trading partners and the source of most of its goods.
She said a high level committee set up by President Salva Kiir, on which she sits, was working to reduce non tariff barriers.
Alien registration had been abolished and hurdles around visa payments removed, she said, though foreigners working in South Sudan still need work permits.
Her assurances follow concerns among Ugandan traders ahead of the forum after Juba disowned a threat to bar foreigners from the retail trade.
Dr Labanya acknowledged security concerns in some parts of South Sudan.
But she said full flights and buses into Juba showed the capital was safe.
She pointed to Ugandan chapati makers across the country and a Juba market in Konyokonyo known for Ugandan goods as signs of how closely the two economies are linked.
“South Sudan welcomes all investors of every kind,” she said, adding that Kiir was committed to continued trade between the two countries.
Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Cooperation Haruna Kasolo Kyeyune closed the forum.
He said the agreement was a positive step but that its value would depend on follow through.
“The significance of the MoU will ultimately depend on its implementation,” Kasolo said.
He urged ministries and agencies in both countries to coordinate closely, set clear follow up arrangements and keep the private sector involved.
He added that commitments under the East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa remained key tools for removing trade barriers.
Brig Gen Balya, who has served as ambassador in Juba since 2017, said the forum was a chance for both business communities to take stock.
“Are we progressing? Are we degenerating? Are we stagnating?” he asked.
The record is mixed.
When the forum was launched in 2022, Uganda said it planned to increase its trade volume with South Sudan from $400 million to $1 billion.
Uganda’s finance ministry now estimates annual exports to South Sudan at about $500 million.
United Nations figures show South Sudan exported about $21.5 million worth of goods to Uganda in 2025.
Brig Gen Balya said the committees and roadmap form part of wider efforts following a meeting in Juba last year between President Yoweri Museveni and Kiir.
At that meeting, the two leaders called for joint border meetings on trade, security and immigration.
An upcoming Joint Permanent Commission meeting is expected to take those efforts further.
South Sudan’s Ambassador to Uganda Paul Malong Akaro defended the e-permit.
He said it had improved revenue collection and border clearance since it was launched jointly with the Uganda Revenue Authority last year.
He urged the revenue authorities of both countries to resolve future concerns through existing mechanisms.
Akaro said South Sudanese traders have their own grievances.
He said they are unable to buy directly from Ugandan manufacturers and distributors.
He added that Juba based transporters from other neighbouring countries appear to monopolise the supply of Ugandan goods.
“Our traders don’t have access to manufacturers to buy goods from Uganda,” he said, adding that the issue had been raised with Uganda’s trade ministry.
He also asked the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and the South Sudan Bureau of Standards to address difficulties faced by South Sudanese exporters of dried fish transiting Uganda to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“South Sudan remains open for business,” he said.
Vincent Bagiire Waiswa, the Permanent Secretary in Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the first forum held in Juba in July 2022 had given both sides a platform to engage on economic issues.
He said he hoped the Kampala meeting would resolve some of the challenges facing traders.
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, joined the East African Community in 2016.
Both countries are also members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.
Discover more from Access Radio®
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
