Nairobi, Kenya, 29 March 2023 – African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) was pleased to host a high-level workshop to validate the National Export and Investment Strategy (NEIS) of the Government of South Sudan. Part of the Bank’s wider Export Development Advisory offering, the workshop – which occurred between the 6th and 8th March in Nairobi – was completed in collaboration with the International Trade Centre (ITC). Well-represented among the workshop’s 32 participants were undersecretaries within the Economic and Finance Cluster line ministries, as well as key stakeholders from public and private institutions.
The workshop is an outcome of the mandate executed between Afreximbank and the Government of South Sudan, in 2019, wherein the Bank was engaged to help accelerate the diversification, and transformation, of the country’s economy. Through its productive capacity development and investment, the NEIS will enhance South Sudan’s integration into the East African Community and its capacity to capitalize on opportunities offered by the AfCFTA.
The NEIS document, which formed the focus of the project, is a five-year national plan for South Sudan containing nine priority sectors and cross-sector strategies and associated plans of action. Priority sectors include Gum Arabic, Natural Honey, Hides and Skins, Oilseeds, and Wildlife Tourism. The selected cross-sectors comprise Investment Promotion, Transport and Trade Facilitation, Trade Information and Promotion, as well as Skills Development and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The NEIS has been developed after extensive stakeholder consultations and has been supported by continuous data analyses and the exchange of relevant documentation reflecting focus areas and themes.
The validation workshop enabled stakeholders, including the NEIS core team and high-level senior officials, to review, enrich and validate the national and priority sectors and cross sector strategy documents and plans of action.
Participants included the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Investment, Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, as well as the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and Cabinet Affairs. Special agencies such as the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards, the South Sudan Bureau of Statistics, the Chamber of Commerce, the South Sudan Customs, and the Drugs & Food Control Authority were also involved in the workshop.
The validated NEIS document will now be submitted for adoption by the South Sudan economic cluster and sign off by His Excellency the Head of State, after which the Bank intends to convene investors and donors to its official launch.
Ms. Oluranti Doherty, Director, Export Development, commented:
“The successful validation of stakeholder consultations represents a historic milestone in the development of a credible and inclusive National Export and Investment Strategy for the Republic of South Sudan, paving the way for the diversification and structural transformation of economic sectors that contribute to manufacturing, employment, and trade. Ultimately, this step ranks as a significant contribution to the country’s long-term economic development, and I am delighted Afreximbank has played such a pivotal role.”
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About Afreximbank
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA. At the end of 2022, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$31 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$5.2 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$86 billion between 2016 and 2022. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”).
For more information, visit: www.afreximbank.com