Horn of Africa Initiative Secretariat, Nairobi: October 26th, 2022: The Republic of South Sudan has formally signed the Joint Ministerial Declaration on Trade, five months after joining the Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI). The accession to the Joint Ministerial Declaration on Trade means the country now stands to accrue immense benefits from the existing and future packages under HoAI’s pillar on trade and economic integration.
Republic of South Sudan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Hon Dr. Dier Tong Ngor, appended his signature to the agreement at the 14th Ministerial meeting of the HoAI, held in Washington DC, USA, last week, on the margins of the annual World Bank and IMF Meetings. The 14th Ministerial meeting co-chaired by Djibouti’s Minister for Finance and Economy, H.E. Ilyas Mousa Dawaleh, and World Bank Vice President, Eastern, and Southern Africa, Ms. Victoria Kwakwa, duly approved the motion to include South Sudan in HoAI’s overall package.
Hon Dr. Ngor said by acceding to the Joint Ministerial Declaration, the government of South Sudan would pursue implementation of the goals and activities described in the Trade Facilitation Roadmap in strict coordination with other HoAI members and in concurrence with the Developing Partners supporting the Initiative.
The Regional Trade Facilitation Roadmap is a series of goals and activities aimed at facilitating trade and increasing regional integration in the Horn region, that governments have agreed to pursue within the next three years. Trade facilitation reforms aim at a more integrated Horn of Africa with coordinated public policy responses to the common development challenges hampering the economic growth of participating countries. The reforms also ensure better exploitation of economic corridors, while amplifying the impact of infrastructure investments.
The Trade Facilitation Roadmap was formally adopted through a Joint Ministerial Declaration signed on 8 August 2022, by the Ministers of Finance of the Republics of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. The Joint Ministerial Declaration, allows the countries in HoAI to formalize the common commitments in trade among the participating countries. This will be followed by scaled progress on digital integration and energy among other areas, in the coming months.
South Sudan joined the Horn of Africa Initiative in June 2022 and an onboarding mission was subsequently held in September 2020, where a rapid assessment of the trade environment, as well as, analyses of the country’s trade policy and initiatives already underway at the national level, were done.
South Sudan now joins Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia in the strategy aimed at achieving a more economically-integrated Horn.
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI) was launched in 2019 by the Finance Ministers of the five Horn of Africa countries — Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. The Initiative seeks to address common development challenges that hamper growth through regional, coordinated, and concerted action among the countries. The mandate of HoAI is to support projects under four pillars: (i) improving regional infrastructure connectivity (transport corridors, energy, and digital integration) (ii) promoting trade and economic integration (iii) building resilience and (iv) strengthening human capital development. Kenya is currently the Chair of the HoAI.
For more information, contact: Bobi Odiko, Communications Specialist, Horn of Africa Initiative Secretariat: Email: [email protected]
