Uganda, South Sudan sign trade pact to end delays on Juba corridor

Uganda and South Sudan have signed a trade agreement aimed at easing the movement of goods between the two neighbours, as officials on both sides acknowledged that delays, repeated checks and unofficial charges continue to raise costs for traders.

The memorandum of understanding was signed on Wednesday in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, at the second Uganda-South Sudan Business Forum and Exhibition, held at Mestil Hotel under the theme “Easing the Cost of Doing Business and Unlocking Regional Market Opportunities for Uganda and South Sudan”.

Uganda’s Minister of State for Industry David Bahati and South Sudan’s Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Labanya Margaret Mathya signed on behalf of their governments.

Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Cooperation Haruna Kasolo Kyeyune said the deal provides a framework for trade promotion, information exchange, investment facilitation and follow-up on agreed commitments.

“The significance of the MoU will ultimately depend on its implementation,” Kasolo said, urging ministries and agencies in both countries to set up clear follow-up arrangements.

Bahati said the deal should be judged by what it changes on the ground. “We should judge the success of the MoU not by the signing ceremony alone,” he said, adding that the real test would be the trade barriers removed, the investments made and the jobs created.

He said Ugandan traders and transporters continue to report delays linked to South Sudan’s electronic permit system, repeated cargo verification, multiple checkpoints, unofficial charges and inconsistent clearance procedures along the Kampala-Gulu-Nimule-Juba corridor, the main overland trade route between the two countries.

Bahati called for an urgent review of the e-permit system to improve transparency, remove duplicate assessments and payments, clarify charges and create a mechanism for resolving disputes.

He also 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 of the border.

Uganda’s Ambassador to South Sudan Brigadier General Ronnie Balya said the forum was expected to produce a joint communique, including the creation of joint technical committees to oversee implementation “so that there is no laxity”.

He said the two sides also expected a roadmap for resolving specific border issues, with timelines and measurable outcomes, along with the elimination of delays for goods crossing the border and regular meetings to review progress.

Brig Gen Balya, who has served as Uganda’s ambassador in Juba since 2017 and previously headed Uganda’s Internal Security Organisation, said the forum followed a meeting in Juba last year between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, at which the two leaders called for joint border meetings on trade, security and immigration.

Dr Labanya, who was appointed trade minister this year, said a high-level committee set up by Kiir, on which she sits, was working to reduce non-tariff barriers. She said alien registration had been abolished and hurdles around visa payments removed, though foreigners working in South Sudan still need work permits.

She acknowledged security concerns in some parts of the country, but said full flights and buses into Juba showed the capital was safe. “South Sudan welcomes all investors of every kind,” she said.

The reassurances follow concerns among Ugandan traders ahead of the forum, after Juba disowned a threat to bar foreigners from the retail trade.

South Sudan’s Ambassador to Uganda Paul Malong Akaro defended the e-permit, saying it had improved revenue collection and border clearance since it was launched jointly with the Uganda Revenue Authority last year. He urged the two countries’ revenue authorities to resolve future concerns through existing mechanisms.

Akaro said South Sudanese traders also have grievances. He said they are unable to buy directly from Ugandan manufacturers and distributors, and 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 called on the standards bureaus of both countries to address difficulties faced by South Sudanese exporters of dried fish transiting through Uganda to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Trade between the two remains heavily lopsided. Bahati said Uganda exports goods worth $524m to South Sudan, while South Sudan exports $22m worth to Uganda. Uganda’s finance ministry puts annual exports to South Sudan at about $500m, while UN figures show South Sudan exported about $21.5m worth of goods to Uganda in 2025, mainly timber, iron and steel, fish and copper.

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 (IGAD) regional bloc.

Bahati said the two countries should trade goods they produce themselves rather than re-export imports, and urged cooperation on industrial projects such as steel production, citing iron ore deposits in both countries.

The first Uganda-South Sudan Business Forum was held in Juba in July 2022.