How To Position Yourself to Reap from the Return of Peace to South Sudan.

Dr. Machar is expected to arrive in Juba today (Tuesday) after he missed on his self –imposed deadlines of April 18^th and 19^th respectively. Juba city was a beehive of activities during those two days; all major roads leading to the airport and J1 (State House) were all locked down in anticipation of Dr. Machar. Businesses were too affected.

Soon the dust will settle, the IO-advance team will leave their hotels, some will take up their positions in the Transitional Government of National Unity. Some current government ministers will lose their positions to accommodate the IO-FDs and other political parties’ brigade.

There are few hiccups that will be felt immediately after the formation of TGoNU, in regards to the implementation of Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS); issues to do with protocol between the Vice President and First President, the cry for cash by the Ministries to carry on with their ambitious departmental plans and many more.

But the good news to the entrepreneurs and the wider business community is that the return to peace and formation of TGoNU will lead to stabilization of the economy and renewed opportunities that this country provided upon independence in 2011. The exchange rate between the SSP and USD is expected to stabilize, it may not come down but whatever rate will be the equilibrium may not fluctuate much as has been the case during the last few months after the currency devaluation.

Those investors who flee the country because of the political crisis and the ensuing economic hardship may return and scale up their operations. For those who will not return, it’s a good business opportunity for the local boys to try their hands and provide services or goods that were being provided by those foreign firms.

The commercial banks are siting on idle cash while the business community is cash-starved. The peace will free the banks from paying so much from remitting this cash to the Bank of South Sudan; a whooping 2% of the amount is charged as a commission. The political stability will encourage the banks to lend, hoping that the bottlenecks in the regulations will also be solved. Access to credit is very key for an economy’s growth.

The peace will allow free movement of people and goods. Traders will rush to areas previously cut off from access to essential services. The conflict zones still harbors a huge population that are in dire need of food, non-food items like clothes, kitchenwares and other merchandises. People trapped in the wet and marshlands of South Sudan provide another potential market that will open up for trading activities.

This provides business opportunities for the local merchants who have been actively engaged in supplying these areas before the conflict erupted. These people will be waiting to resuscitate their domestic trading activities; new entrants will come in propping competition, which is good for the consumers.

Peace will make the Nile safe and secure again to allow resumption of river transport that has been linking the capital Juba to the northern States. When the borders with Sudan will open, the Nile will become a major facilitator of the trade between the two countries, the Nile is the only passable mode of transport right now as the road and rail networks are non-existence or very limited in reach.

The fishermen will swam the Sudd again for their fishing expeditions, a very huge potential segment of the country that is underdeveloped and continued to be suffering from underinvestment. South Sudan has a potential to supply not just the regional markets but also international ones with fish.

Juba river port will be back bustling with roaring of boat engines as they dock and leave with tones of fish and other goods. The boat builders will come back to life and earn a living.

Focus your attention on the business opportunities the peace brings and spend less time discussing the politics of coalition government that will soon be formed. South Sudan needs rebuilding and entrepreneurs have a major role to play.

Why South Sudan Needs a National Financial Inclusion Strategy Now

Today the First Vice President Designate; Dr. Riek Machar is returning to Juba after two years of absence following eruption of conflict on December 15, 2013. Today therefore, marks a critical stage in the implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISSS), which Dr. Machar signed on 17^th August 2015 in Addis Ababa and later on signed by H.E President Kiir in Juba on August 26.

Dr. Machar will be sworn in today as The First Vice President and the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) is expected to be subsequently called into existence for a period of 30 months before national Census and elections are held.

The formation of TGoNU provides another opportunity for the country to start afresh. Priorities will be set and a raft of recommendations in the ARCISSS will be implemented. One of the key issues addressed in the agreement is that of the positioning of The Ministry of Finance and economic Planning to effectively develop a Strategic Economic Development Roadmap (National Development Plan) for three to five (3-5) years to accelerate progress in achieving a sustainable and resilient national economy.

This plan provides a great opportunity for the government and development partners to come up with a clear policy statement acknowledging financial inclusion as one of the key drivers of economic growth, that can lead to reduced economic vulnerability for individuals and households; and to promote poverty alleviation and improved quality of life for all the South Sudanese.

Initiatives to achieve Financial Inclusion are carried out by multiple stakeholders. Therefore, the formation of a national coordinating mechanism with relevant stakeholders becomes imperative. Key stakeholders that have bigger roles to play in advancing financial inclusion agenda should form National Council that will provide strategic direction and an oversight in financial inclusion agenda.

The key stakeholders refereed to here are the Ministry of Finance and Planning; Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment; Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security; Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare; on the government side.

Others are The Bank of South Sudan (BSS)(expected to play a central role); South Sudan Bankers Association; South Sudan Microfinance Development Facility; Microfinance Association of South Sudan and National Communication Authority; and a representative of the Mobile Network Operators as well as Insurance Association.

Development partners and agencies like the World Bank Group, USAID, Norwegian People’s AID, and many others that have a long working relations with the people and Government of South Sudan should also be involved. The Presidency too should actively be involved in monitoring the progress of the National Council on financial Inclusion closely.

A focus on financial inclusion will accelerate the economic development that this country has been yearning for. There are long standing barriers that have been inhibiting the desired economic growth in this country; only a very comprehensive approach can remove these barriers as well as a working mechanism where key stakeholders are brought together to focus their attention on a particular problem. This has been observed normally to yields fruits.

When a financial sector is developed, it spurs economic growth, therefore, reducing poverty and at the same time help everyone including the poor to access financial services resulting in a better welfare for the citizenry. This initiative will enhance the already developed policies in this area like the National Microfinance Policy (NAMIPO) 2010.

The recently signed Mobile Money regulations by the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan will enable the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to roll out the much needed Mobile Money which will be a big driver for financial inclusion. The Private Sector Development Strategy developed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment is another tool that will inform the direction of the financial inclusion strategy, as it touches not just on trade but also access to finance and youth entrepreneurship.

The expected reforms at the Bank of South Sudan will add more impetus to the push for financial inclusion. The bank has been focusing so much on making payments for the government at the expense of stabilizing the macro economic environment; there is need to initiate key enabling regulations that can promote the economic growth and smooth functioning of financial institutions.

I expect the Bank of South Sudan to join the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI); a network of central banks, supervisors and other financial regulatory authorities founded in 2008 to advance smart financial inclusion policies in developing and emerging countries. This will allow the BSS to access the regulatory and policymaking cadres that this body’s working groups can provide.

South Sudan is the only East African Country, with her Central Bank not being a member of this important organization. Unfortunately this is a country that needs to do a lot of things to bring many of her citizens to the financial inclusion loop; because only 1% of the population has a bank account.

Promoting financial inclusion will lead to a lot of barriers currently being faced in the financial system to be solved, more people will have access to affordable, efficient, high quality and sustainable financial products. People in the rural areas will have access to the same products being enjoyed by town folks. People of all income levels will have appropriate products designed for them and delivered in a way that will be convenient to them.

I therefore call upon the new Transitional Government of National Unity to make Financial Inclusion agenda a national priority alongside other competing priorities. I also call upon the development partners to provide a helping hand in term of resources and expertise to help the new government achieve this. The will is there on the part of government which has been demonstrated by a number of programs initiated which are geared towards helping everyone including the bottom of the pyramid segment of our society to have access to finance in a very inclusive financial systems.

We just need to build on all these initiatives, bring them together and involve every stakeholder and South Sudanese will be given an enabling environment where everyone will have a chance to contribute towards the nation building.

Mr. Elijah Chol Yak is the Managing Director of South Sudan Microfinance Development Facility (SSMDF); he is an alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education Program on Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy & Practice; Harvard Business School’s- ACCION Executive Education Program On Strategic Leadership in Inclusive Finance; he is also a fellow at the African Board Fellowship (ABF) at ACCION.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What the return of The First Vice President Designate means for the people of South Sudan

For South Sudan to regain her footing among the nations, it must completely reboot and begin afresh. The expected formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity is hoped to usher in a new crop of leaders who will shift the gears and adopt new ways of managing the country in a manner that will not jeopardise the future generations, a leadership that will promote accountability and use the current resources at our disposal to stimulate growth.

The public is already euphoric about the prospects the coming of Dr. Riek Machar, the First Vice President Designate to the national capital will bring. We have already seen the South Sudanese Pounds gaining albeit slightly against major currencies. A reflection of a better future? Or maybe just pure speculation for the currency traders?

One definite positive step that the full implementation of the Agreement on the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) brings is the immediate cessation of hostilities especially in the upper Nile region. At least there is a relatively free moment of goods and services (unarmed civilians and traders) in the areas bordering the strongholds of the armed opposition and the government.

The local administrations in these areas are doing well, especially my home county of Duk where a very conducive peaceful coexistence is being encouraged and a close working relationship between the county’s administration and that of newly formed neighboring states of Eastern and Western Bieh.

What our people are longing for is the restoring of the crumbling nascent economy; the level of imports especially of key goods has tremendously reduced. This affected both the urban and Peri-urban centers in the country; many investors have left the country, a rise in the level of unemployment as a result of retrenchment and lack of new opportunities both in the private sector and the government.

Many businesses have collapsed; the banks are on the brink too. The level of dependence on the few employed has increased hence reducing their ability to save and invest.

A lot of people have left their homes and moved to places where they can access basic commodities for their survival. We expect a huge number to come back home and rebuild their lives.

But the restoration of the economy will take time; the government will not muster the much-needed resources as soon as possible. The national coopers are drier and will remain so in a foreseeable future.

The funding of the Transitional Government of National Unity is largely expected to come from the donor communities; especially the long time friends of the People of South Sudan: The TROIKA (US, Norway and UK) plus a host of other countries like China that has lately been a major investor in the oil sector and also a key partner of the government. Japan, which is funding a lot of developmental projects, will also become handy.

What we must acknowledge and get prepared to live with is the fact that this funding which the country hopes to get doesn’t come cheap. We must fulfill a number of preconditions touching on economic reforms, human rights violations, corruption within the government and many more; which are really what we should naturally embrace but which the government abhors and always take with a pinch!

But what we are most excited about as citizens is that the coming of Dr. Machar, will free the internally displaced persons (IDPs) trapped for two years in the UN’s Protection of civilian cites (PoCs) in Juba, Bor, Malakal and Bentiu come out; so that they can join their families and reengage in the economic development of this country. His coming will make our communities reconcile and refocus our attention towards national rebuilding and peaceful coexistence.

Yes we expect more than half of the current leaders to remain in charge of key portfolios, but we shall vouch on the ‘clean’ few that will get the chance to be part of the TGoNU. If we mend the ‘leaks’ and channel the resources to good use, we can get back on track easily. We must take charge of our country and believe in our capabilities to make ‘our country great again’ just to borrow Mr. Trump’s campaign slogan.

 

 

Wean us from import dependence

Sometimes I wonder what we are waiting as a country before setting on the course to become independent from the importation of what we can produce. The government has been made or willingly decided to pursue neoliberal economic policies when in fact there are no incentives to attract key free market players: The multinationals.

We produce crude oil, export it all and do nothing with the proceeds to help develop the economy, instead we use million of USD each month to import refined petroleum products to run our economy. It’s paradox that we find it cheaper to allocate forex to state run NilePet to import oil instead of empowering it to build refineries.

We have a huge teak forest, which we have contracted foreign firms to cut down (not even planting to replace the ones cut down) and export it across the borders, the proceeds not even being reinvested in the economy and instead the timber produced and the resultant furniture is imported back to the country at a very high cost.

Our economists’ precious time has been reduced to discussing an imposed currency devaluation; committees formed to seek solutions to economic problems we created ourselves instead of focusing on how we can move the country towards becoming a producing state.

We pride ourselves of having the potential of being the food basket for the entire Easter African because of the arable nature of our land and its fertility. But what have we done to promote agriculture apart from occasionally buying tractors which are left to rust in the parking yards of our many state capitals?

We must too tackle the underlying problems affecting the adoption of large scale farming. Security is the number reason, but not all areas in South Sudan are insecure or have been insecure since 2005. We must own up and admit that our ‘using oil resource to spur agricultural production’ mantra has remained so just like SPLM’s ‘taking town the people’ slogan.

We can never make this country become what we want it to be if we sit down doing nothing. The government must devise a deliberate plan to deliver us from the bondage of being an import dependent country, we can’t talk of forces of demand and supply in an economy where virtually the demand for anything outstrips its supply, just think of any tradable commodity or service and tell me if the equilibrium can ever be reached in this state.

Now that peace is certainly coming, we need to reprioritise our programs and focus on those sectors that will encourage production to reduce our dependence on imports. prioritising productive sectors like agriculture will result in more job creation and also provide opportunities for self employment for those who will venture into farming.

Difficulties of Promoting Financial Inclusion in South Sudan, a Fragile State

South Sudan is one of the countries among the Fragile States. And according to the recent United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/70/253 adopted on 12 February 2016, South Sudan remained categorized as a Least Developed Country, this has been the case since its initial inclusion in the list in 2012.

A least developed country (LDC) is a country that, according to the United Nations, exhibits the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development, with the lowest Human Development Index ratings of all countries in the world. And according to Wikipedia, a fragile state is a low-income country characterized by weak state capacity and/or weak state legitimacy leaving citizens vulnerable to a range of shocks. South Sudan unfortunately without doubt rightfully falls into the above two categories.

The first Microfinance Institution; Sudan Microfinance Instituting (SUMI) was formed in 2003 before even the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005 which then made Southern part of the then Sudan semi-autonomous. SUMI has since collapsed and many other MFIs have come up to fill the void.

Promoting microfinance as a tool to provide access to finance to the low-income earners has since been not easy. For those who have a post conflict experience won’t be surprised to learn about the predicaments some of us trying to promote the microfinance business model in this country are facing.

One of the key challenges we have been and are still facing is educating people to know that apart from the commercial banks, MFIs can too provide credit facilities to those who cannot be taken in by the regular banks. It has been difficult to find people walking into a microfinance institution to inquire about a particular type of services they want, the way people find it easy to walk into a banking hall. Here, lack of a colorful branding and where they are located has been a major impediment, save for rural towns where there are no commercial banks.

As typical of a fragile state, there is no adequate physical infrastructure in terms of good transport network to ensure a wider outreach. Much of the transport between major towns is done either by air, which is expensive, or by river, which too is limited to cities and towns along River Nile. This inhibited expansion by those MFIs that wish to set up shops in other towns, this in part explains the concentration of Microfinance Institutions in the Greater Equatoria areas mostly those towns that can be reached by land from the capital Juba.

Political instability is a major factor that affected the outreach and growth of the microfinance industry. There are some regions where stability cannot be predicted. This has led to the exclusion of these areas by the Microfinance services providers. The high rate of mobility too in those areas can lead to high non-performing loans that are not good for sustainability of the MFIs.

Lack of a regulatory environment too has not made it possible for MFIs to provide a wide range of financial products like savings and money transfer which according to the Banking act can only be done by commercial banks. MFIs need to offer more than just credit only, not just because the low-income earners too need these services but also because of the fact that more financial services can also widen their income sources.

There are no external investors in the microfinance sector in this country apart from CORDAID that has interest in two of the largest MFIs. This limited investment by the MIVs or other investors has made it difficult for the local MFIs to reach scale and also lack of professionalism in the sector, which normally comes with external investors. We have seen a difference in CORDAID investee MFIs where the Technical assistants brought in have streamlined operations and financial performance of these MFIs. If we have many other investors investing in other Greenfields, we can raise the level of professionalism among the local people and hence a sustainable human resource base in the sector.

As I mentioned in my earlier articles, the MFIs are acutely undercapitalized as they depend on start-up funding from the initial promoters or donations for the NGOs-based. This limited capital curtails how far an MFI can go in term of both depth and breadth. Many MFIs have resorted to contend giving repeat loans only to the good clients and drop off the default ones so that they don’t lost the small capital that is revolving. Lack of adequate funding has made MFIs to be over cautious and risk averse.

The good intentions of Microfinance are changing. Countries like South Sudan, which are in dire need of Microfinance Grant funding are being left out in preference to growth markets where instant impacts can be made. Most donors and development institutions are flocking to countries where there are already a number of donors operating, duplicating funding which leads to over indebtedness of many performing MFIs while some markets are being left to ‘starve.’

If we are ever serious of poverty alleviation through Microfinance (a term being rarely used these days) then we also need to pay special attention to those markets in the fragile States or the LDCs such that financial access for all is achieved by 2020. Or else some countries will still be far behind if that time comes and another dateline with many other declarations will be made. It’s better to look at the marker holistically and provide equal attention to both the growth markets and the struggling ones.

Yes South Sudan might still be undergoing political unrest, but I want to assure all the stakeholders that Microfinance is still flourishing and rife for external investments. It just need a ‘short in the arms’ in term of funding and it will follow the same trajectory of those successful markets. The example of investors like CORDAID is a living testimony that what such markets need is not to be abandoned when plagued with conflicts, but being handheld. This provide confidence not just for the MFIs to face the harsh economic conditions but also to the clients who are assured of continuous financial services even during the period of uncertainties.

Mr. Yak is the Managing Director of South Sudan Microfinance Development Facility (SSMDF); he is an alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education Program on Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy & Practice; he is also a fellow at the African Board Fellowship (ABF) at ACCION

 

South Sudanese entrepreneurs need to take charge of the economy

You can be a politician, Medical Doctor, civil servant, banker or whatever trade that you ply, but don’t forget to set up some business. A country’s economy isn’t grown only by big corporations; the SMEs play a big role in driving up the economy and employing a great number of people.

We can’t allow our economy to be run by foreign investors from the big enterprises to the micro enterprises, we must take initiatives and control the businesses and not necessarily wait for protective legislations against foreign investment. Don’t wait for any other time; even now you can take a shot at the business of your choice.

Talk less about the political dispensation; instead seek advice from those who have business acumen to guide you on what to do.

No single person or corporation can make an economy grow, the individual effort if combined with what others are doing is what drives a nation’s growth.

The many years of conflicts have disadvantaged us of cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit. Even those South Sudanese who were living as refugees in neighboring countries or those resettled abroad didn’t get opportunities to make investment, but they might have worked in some corporations. Learning by observation isn’t entirely enough to give you an experience in starting a business but it gives you an advantage to begin learning with some kind of prior theoretical knowledge.

This week the international media launched a scathing media campaigns about South Sudan, from what is alleged to have been committed by both sides to the current conflict for the last two years to a group of South Sudanese gangs terrorizing residents in some suburbs of Australian cities.

All these messages carry different connotations and motives; you must have had read or watched some documentaries being peddled online with some glaring flaws and have no even a single iota of truth. Of course some issues being reported are true, yes we have killed ourselves, committed heinous atrocities, but we know sooner or later the judicial processes will be instituted to punish those involved and deter the rest from committing the same atrocities some day.

This negative propaganda will have a long-term impact to the resuscitation of our dying economy. Even if permanent peace is achieved today, investors will still be not confident to come back and invest in the country. There will be a grace period to be watched by many to see if we have learnt from our mistakes or will craziness creep in again and make us fight ourselves at the slightest provocation.

One critical calendar that the world will be watching is the 2018 national elections as stipulated in the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS). Everyone will be watching to see if we shall conduct free and fair democratic elections that are devoid of post election violence.

This week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the inflation figures, which have put the February figures at 202.5%; this is a scaring indicator for any investor and also for the local traders.

With the reduced government revenue, pulling out of donors and investors, there is high unemployment among the urban youths leading to a reduced purchasing power. Not many investors will be willing to take the risks many were ready to take in the years leading up to and immediately after independence.

But we have a population to feed, an economy that demands goods and services; we the youth must step in and fill the gaps being created in the economy because of closure of some foreign businesses and lack of new investors coming in. We must change our mindsets from the desire from being job seekers to job creators.

Let’s till our land at least to sustain our subsistence needs, let’s focus on the huge fish potential especially along the Sudd. It will take long before an enabling environment conducive for smooth running of businesses and promotion of entrepreneurship is achieved.

The South Sudan Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture must position itself as a champion of promoting entrepreneurship among the youth and not just a mere club of big business people that uses it as a lobby for various issues affecting them. They need to form various entrepreneurship incubator centers across the country. These will act as catalyst for the mushrooming of the army of young entrepreneurs across the country.

The youth lack adequate skills that can help them identify business opportunities, run the businesses sustainably and even grow them. There ought to be a deliberate national plan to encourage youth self-employment. This is the only way in my view that we can get grip on running the affairs of our own economy.

 

Where Did the Rain Start Beating the Country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation?

The Ministry was overstaffed in the first place, people with connections from higher places would be brought to the minister or other high ranking diplomats with instructions not just to employ them but to deploy them in missions abroad, Some were even daring to decide where theirs kids, kin or kith would be deployed, first choices being those countries you know.

Some were recruited from the countries they took refuge and possibly became nationals, some lacked job and saw the opportunities of working in foreign mission and preferably being ‘posted’ in those countries of their residence as solving their un-employability!

I must say here some were genuinely recruited with competent credentials; they might be the first casualties of this recall, which is a result of malfunction and rot at the Ministry. The roll out of the diplomatic missions was euphoric and didn’t put many factors into consideration. Fully pledged embassies were opened in countries where we didn’t need to, some should have been made consulates instead of full diplomatic missions.

You find so many staffs with sometimes duplicating duties; visit the Nairobi office for instance. Why then did the Ministry wait for this embarrassing situation? Didn’t they see this coming? Why didn’t they anticipate and make prior arrangement? Anyway this is a chance to downsize the staffing at that Ministry and recruit career diplomats, post them in strategic countries regardless of relationship with the posting authority.

If you have been wondering why the country is not doing well in terms of international relation, then this might just be the icing on the cake! There could be many more reasons.

But I would put lack of transparency and fairness in both the recruitment of would be diplomats and the choices of whom to post to which country as the causes of our diplomatic failures. I won’t be surprised if non-French speaking diplomats are sent to French speaking countries; the case in point, France, Geneva, Dr. Congo among others.

Every country has a set criterion for recruiting those desiring to pursue diplomacy; there must be an exam to prequalify the recruits. Diplomacy isn’t just a choice of an individual, here a country is at stake, her representation abroad must be entrusted in the hands of people who are beyond reproach in their character and abilities to represent not just South Sudan but her people abroad.

There have been attempts in the past especially from the former undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Amb. Charles Manyang to formalize the recruitment but these efforts has been thwarted by forces against reform in the Ministry.

This is a Ministry that has been in news for the wrong reasons for a long time; some accusations might not have been right, maybe driven by people denied posting to plumb embassies. But the current state of affairs might make us to rethink our previous perceptions.

As the ministry is getting ready to be taken over by the Former Detainees (FDs) wing of the incoming Transitional Government of National Unity; they will need to do a serious personnel audit, to gauge the size of the employees, reduce on the number of embassies (although this require blessings from the Parliament and Presidency), cross check the files of all the staffs for their level of education and experience, not just for those posted abroad, establish a clear criteria for posting staffs abroad after deciding on the number of staffs to be employed in each of the embassies and consulates (Some embassies will require more personnel than others).

The problem is that the FDs’ nominee for the minister in this ministry is a former holder of the same docket; I have no idea to what extent he contributed to the rot of that ministry; but I believe with the renewed resolve to move the country forward, his second spell will be more positive and reformist.

Let us hold restraint as the current economic crisis has rendered virtually every government department powerless, it’s just that the tribulations for some departments like the MoFAIC are more pronounced than others. But if inefficiency and lack of direction resulted into the closure of some embassies as being reported then the top leadership should own up and gracefully handover the affairs to the new incoming Ministers to that docket to clean the mess.

Is the Banking Honeymoon over in South Sudan?

The commercial banks are reporting negative results, the honeymoon is over, and there are no free ‘gifts’ and the current circumstances call for real banking to be practiced to remain afloat.

But what has changed? South Sudan is the only country where banks make huge profits without even lending, that has been the case during the ‘boom’ years, many NGOs receiving their remittances from headquarters God knows where, these come in hard currency depending on the country of origin of these donations, a lot of transfers taking place either internally or for those repatriating profits to their home countries, thanks to our Investment Act 2009.

Whenever you are receiving international transfers both the sender and receiver are charged, when withdrawing your money you are charged and these are not negligible charges, they are in fact exorbitant.

But with the current situation there are no many transactions happening hence what we see being reported in Kenyan dailies. What was once a profitable destination for commercial banking is being shunned. Yes the crisis has had a real negative impact on the banking sector; but the real issue is that the banking rush we saw at independence was purely based on speculation and a desire to tap into a huge Foreign exchange from the donors pouring in and new investors that were very passionate and optimistic about the investment opportunities the new country were offering.

Banks were relying on gains made in operating checking accounts and not necessarily in activities to strengthen their balance sheets. This clearly is evidence in the exchange loss reported by many regional banks having subsidiaries in South Sudan whose reports are made public every quarter. Savings accounts are expensive and give not even a single piaster as interest!

There are many locally owned commercial banks too that flourished before the December 15 political crisis occurred. There are credible allegations that many of these commercial banks are owned by senior managers of the bank of South Sudan and some people who are highly influential or very senior government official who use their influence to get access to the hard currency that used to be allocated to these banks and forex bureaus before this window was closed.

Such incentives that are not supported by commercial banking fundamentals led to the mushrooming of the commercial banks. Now the ‘chickens’ have come home to roost! Those banks founded purely on speculative purposes will find it hard to remain as going concerns in the face of the dried up sources of foreign currency.

We have already seen many banks that are considered to have a strong balance sheet scaling down and if this situation continues for another three quarters, some may even consider closing down completely. The economy is contracting and with reduced transaction volumes, the banks will find it hard to withstand the spiraling high cost of operations.

Many banks have already increased their wage bills because of the currency devaluation, to match the rising inflation so that the employees’ purchasing power is maintained. Some banks might consider increasing the bank charges to match the additional cost; but with reduced banking volumes, this will be a very difficult decision to make; and also considering the high competition among the commercial banks in the capital Juba.

There are some regulatory issues to deal with too, last year the regulator increased the capital requirement ratio to USD 30 Million and gave them until 31^st December 2015 to pay up. There are serious consequences for those that would have not complied; if there was a moratorium given, the cost to comply will be sucking up a lot of cash.

Much of what are called ‘National Banks’ are time bomb waiting to explode. Their founding was purely based on accessing foreign currency. Since the weekly foreign currency allocation was stopped, the epitaph was written on the ‘graves’ of many of them.

Many of these banks neither have a huge clientele to support their operations, nor having the ability to attract corporate clients for scale. They don’t even have a lean loan book like some of the big commercial banks.

Maybe it’s time for some of these commercial banks to scale down to become microfinance bank and lobby the Bank of South Sudan and the Ministry of Justice to pass the long overdue Microfinance Deposit Bill 2010.

The expected changes in the Bank of South Sudan after the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity may usher in a strict regulator that will not compromise in ensuring sanity is restored in the fledgling financial sector in South Sudan.

The strength of a Rural South Sudanese Woman

Today is World’s international women’s day, which was first called International working women’s day. It is a day set aside, according to Wikipedia to celebrate respect, appreciation, and love towards women to a celebration for women’s economic, political, and social achievements.

This year’s international theme is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality.” The Theme for South Sudan this year is “pledge for parity, ending early marriage.” In my previous blog post I delved into the issue of early marriage in South Sudan. I centered my argument on the deep-rooted cultural practices that are inherently discriminating against a girl child.

As the theme suggests, the world is rooting for equality for all by the year 2030, what a far cry from reality in South Sudan! But yes many other countries in the world are inching closer to achieving this fete.

Women in rural parts of South Sudan are the suffering lot; they are deprived of the chance to go to school and if they go when they are still small girls, they hardly go past primary school level. We have seen girls as young as 14 years among some communities being married off.

Quite often these marriages are arranged between the groom’s family and the girl’s. Whenever a girl protests they are forced into submission, sometimes beaten by her own brothers and father too. Love or her choice is never put into consideration. What a harsh reality in the 21^st century!

A rural South Sudanese woman tills the land to feed her family as the man follows his cattle to the grazing lands or where the cows can access water (Toich among communities living along the Nile) Some men go for long distant hunting. There are no hard workingwomen like our rural women.

A rural South Sudanese woman travels long distances each day to fetch water, carry about a 20 liters’ pail or jerican on her head with a baby tied on her back and probably walking barefoot on a very sandy soil heated by a very hot South Sudan’s summer sun. They too would go fetch firewood on top of all these crowded daily diary of activities.

Our women in cities too are still being discriminated against and quite often their voices are hardly heard. We see community meetings being done without women’s participation, usually there are only a handful of them, those who have position of authority.

What then can we do as a society to ensure equality for all? What can we do in our individual capacities to achieve gender parity? It’s right time we make personal pledges to promote gender parity and end the practice of early marriages which nips in the bud those aspiring young women whose potential to be great leaders is immaturely terminated and condemned to perpetual domination.

We need to guarantee girl child education if we need to attain gender parity. We need to empower women by trusting them with position of authority and leadership, be it elective posts or those that comes with appointment.

Gender based violence should be abolished; it promotes men’s superiority and therefore dampens the women’s quest for equality. It should be considered a crime against humanity and punishable by law.

Women’s opinion in matters affecting their lives should be considered; no one should be forced married against their will. Surprisingly, South Sudan is another place where men are forced married! The only difference is that it’s not as prevalent as that meted on women folks. So young girls who want to continue pursuing studies should be facilitated and not coerced or forced to drop of just because someone is paying a price to drop them out of school and start a family.

Child bearing is a choice and no one should be forced to become wives and bear children when they are not even ready. The issue of child marriage has been taken far by some communities who accept to receive bride price for even young girls who have not attained puberty! But their suitors go ahead any way to pay for them and either take them and be with them until they attain puberty to start having children or remain with their parents until ready to be with her husband! This is sickening and inhumane.

Women should take a fore front in advocating for gender parity, yes I know it’s everyone’s role but there are women who have achieved a lot, they can act as role models to the young ones. This will make them walk the same path these heroines walked, how they overcame the biases and all those obstacles until they achieved their dreams.

So as we celebrate our mothers, wives, sisters daughters and even women themselves for the strides they made in overcoming the social barriers, let’s not forget to celebrate those South Sudanese women who have done much for our country, for our communities, those who looked beyond their families and crafted a national outlook for they are the ones the little ones too look up to them.

Gender parity, to be achieved needs a political statement and commitment to achieve and the 35% women quota advocated for by President Salva Kiir must be implemented and enshrined in the permanent constitution of the Republic of South Sudan.

Allow women equal chance to access to finance, educate them, give them leadership positions, trust them with decision making and actually involve them in the decision making processes and they shall be empowered and economically involved; this is when we can attain gender parity.

Today I am celebrating the rural South Sudanese woman; she is the most downtrodden but resilient of all.

 

South Sudan: Make education as a number one priority

A nation’s progress is based not on the natural resources it has but on a critical mass of educated populace that have the know how to convert the resources into useable products.

Yes there is no doubt that South Sudan is endowed with natural resources: The oil; making it the third largest African country with oil reserve, the River Nile which runs through the middle of the country from the Southern border to the North; a country of many other rivers, the wild life and many other minerals that are yet to be exploited.

A country that has been in a war for quite sometimes, there are no established institutions of learning from primary education to the very highest. Yes we have five moribund public universities and only two private ones.

The many years of civil wars have not made it possible for the growth of human skills. Many educated generations have been either killed during the many wars or have been resettled abroad. Some are still refugees in the neighboring countries.

But the worse thing is that since independent, there are not many strides made in the new country to plug the generational gaps in the education sector and there are no current plans to ensure the education of the current generation of children is guaranteed.

There is no practical national strategy on education that is functioning properly, a lot of donor driven programs have policy statements made by the country’s Ministry of higher education, and Science and technology but the impact of such has not been seen.

Even the public Universities have no facilities to ensure a conducive learning environment; they are understaffed and not admitting students regularly. The main complaint always has been lack of enough budgetary allocations.

A country with no known national boarding secondary schools that are functioning and admitting students all over the country is a nation starting on a wrong putting as far as educating her population. In the then Sudan there were national secondary schools like Rumbek, Atar, Loka, Malek, among others that produced the current crop of leaders leading the nation. During the years 2005-2011 when Southern Sudan was given semi-autonomy status and then during the post independent years; no efforts have been done to make education a national priority.

In my own village any structure of the few primary schools were built by UN agencies; non-was built by the government. And in a county with a population of more than 65,000 people, there is no a single secondary school! And this is cross cutting across the country.

When Kenya attained independent in 1963; one of the notable leaders at the time, Tom Mboya organized a scholarship for the bright young Kenyans to study mostly in The United States. That program produced most of the leaders that served under Presidents Moi, Kibaki and even now the current Kenyan Government. That’s an example of a leadership that values education and recognize it as the main driver of both economic and social change for the country and her people. Kenya is partly where it is because of such initiatives and many others by other leaders that championed education as the key pillar to ensure a nation’s progress.

At our independence, there was a wind of good will blowing all over the whole world and especially among the TROIKA countries of USA, UK and Norway which played a critical role during the liberation struggle and ensuring the right of self determination as was enshrined in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in January 2005 was respected which culminated in the birth of the Republic of South Sudan.

The government did not focus and still is not focusing on basic education. Organizations like UNICEF and a host of others are making much more efforts to take back to classroom thousands of school going children.

A country with a literacy rate of just 27% according to the 2008’s Housing and Population Census should have made education as a priority to bridge that gap. I do not think a lot has changed since then in term of increasing the literacy rate.

The high illiteracy is making the efforts to increase access to finance difficult. You cannot win a fight to increase financial literacy if there are no efforts being made in fighting illiteracy. Yes we can use pictorial and many other teaching aids that can best communicate to the illiterate population but this can not bear fruit when the scale is this massive.

We need to focus as a country on educating our population. We cannot extract the natural resources without human resources and depending on expatriate is not sustainable in the long run. The unstopping rounds of conflict in this country are due to lack of education which make the youth vulnerable to politicians out to capitalize on their ignorant to trick them to fighting ‘against marginalization’ when in fact they are being used to fight political wars for the politician.

Enlightened youths cannot be misled and they will always stand up for the truth and exploitation by any person who doesn’t mean good. Therefore the government needs to focus on promoting access to education especially the basic and secondary education to give skills to the youth, which they can use to create business ventures and become business owners and create employment for others.

The government will benefit from the critical mass of skilled human resources that they can easily tap into and use it as driver for spurring economic growth.

Mr. Yak is the Managing Director of South Sudan Microfinance Development Facility (SSMDF); he is an alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education Program on Rethinking Financial Inclusion: Smart Design for Policy & Practice; he is also a fellow at the African Board Fellowship (ABF) at ACCION.