South Sudan has many challenges in cross border trade, the high cost of doing business across borders being the major constraint. The World Bank (WB) study Doing Business 2020, ranks the country 180 out of 190 economies in term of ease of trading across borders, well below the Sub-Saharan Africa regional average, as shown in the figure displayed in the next page.

Compared to other sub-Saharan African countries, cost and time for importing goods are considerably higher in South Sudan, where the average trader has to wait 179 hours for border clearance at import and 146 hours for border clearance at export, for a total cost, respectively, of 781 and 194 USD (against the regional average of 690.6 USD at import and 172.5 USD at export). On the other hand, completing documentary compliance takes 360 hours at import and 194 hours at export (against the regional average, respectively, of 96.1 and 71.9 hours).

Lack of road connectivity, poor security on roads and dilapidated cross-border infrastructure are the main challenges that hamper South Sudan trade, these three factors seriously limiting the economic growth and export development of the country. Connections with adjacent countries, and particularly with the largest economies in the region (Ethiopia and Kenya), are few, with roads in poor status and insecure.

Operations at border crossing points are conducted manually, with invasive physical inspections of goods and complete absence of technology, such as modern IT-based risk management systems, x-ray scanners and weighbridges. This situation results in significant delays in customs clearance processes which increase costs for traders. Electricity and water supply, financial services, internet services and mobile services are also poorly developed at these sites, which further limits the cross-border movement of people and goods.

Note: The report can be downloaded here.