ENTEBBE – Uganda wants to expand its annual exports to South Sudan beyond $700 million by addressing trade barriers, improving security along the Juba-Nimule road and advancing an electricity transmission project, President Yoweri Museveni said.
Museveni made the remarks after meeting South Sudan’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Labanya Margaret, and her delegation at State House in Entebbe, where they were attending a business forum focused on cross-border trade.
“Uganda is already exporting goods worth about $700 million annually to South Sudan, but we can do much more,” Museveni said.
He also proposed working with the African Development Bank on the Juba-Nimule road, strengthening security cooperation along the shared border and establishing a one-stop border centre to facilitate trade.
Margaret said Uganda is among South Sudan’s major trading partners but called for more efficient procedures to ease business between the two countries.
“We came to see better ways to make trade more seamless, acceptable and tasteful to both countries,” she said.
She also acknowledged concerns over roadblocks along the Nimule-Juba corridor, a major route for goods entering South Sudan from Uganda, saying most of those reported had recently been removed.
Uganda’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Sanjay Tanna, identified customs clearance delays, non-tariff barriers, insecurity and high financial service costs as challenges facing traders in both countries.
He also cited complaints from Ugandan traders over delays in compensation claims in South Sudan.
“The Ugandan community of traders that has visited me raised the issue of compensation. Their side is slow, our side is quick, however they have committed to improve,” Tanna said.
Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has estimated annual exports to South Sudan at about $700 million, up from $490 million in 2024.
The proposed road improvements, border arrangements and electricity connection are among the measures discussed to expand trade between the neighboring countries.
Museveni and the South Sudanese delegation also discussed South Sudan’s forthcoming first-ever elections on December 22, 2026.