(DAR ES SALAAM) – Singapore has opened negotiations for a free trade agreement with the East African Community, a regional bloc that includes South Sudan, in a move aimed at expanding trade flows between Asia and one of Africa’s fastest growing regional markets. The proposed agreement would be Singapore’s firstContinue Reading
(JUBA) – International travel policy and health security measures are tightening as the Ebola outbreak in parts of Central and East Africa prompts renewed coordination between the United States and European governments, with implications for countries in the wider region including South Sudan. The United States government is urging EuropeanContinue Reading
(JUBA) – South Sudan’s National Security Service has introduced a nationwide ban on the unauthorised production, sale, possession and use of its uniforms and security insignia, in a move aimed at tightening control over security-related materials and preventing impersonation. The directive, issued on 8 June through the Internal Security Bureau,Continue Reading
(JUBA) – Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest lender by assets, is evaluating a possible entry into Ethiopia as it seeks to expand its regional footprint while navigating restrictions on foreign ownership in the country’s banking sector. Through its East African subsidiary Stanbic Bank, the group is considering a greenfield approachContinue Reading
(JUBA) – South Sudan has been included in a major regional Ebola preparedness and response programme after African and international health agencies launched a joint emergency strategy worth US$518 million aimed at containing the spread of the virus across East and Central Africa. The Africa Centres for Disease Control andContinue Reading
(JUBA) – The South Sudan government has ordered businesses and individuals to use the South Sudan Pound, SSP, for all commercial transactions, ending the widespread use of the United States dollar in local trade and contracts. The directive, issued through the Bank of South Sudan, requires all commercial agreements, paymentsContinue Reading
South Sudan’s transition remains unfinished, not only because of weak institutions, repeated political crises and a lack of political will, but also because the country has yet to agree on a shared national vision. At the centre of the problem is a deeper question: What kind of state, system ofContinue Reading
(WAU, WESTERN BAHR EL GHAZAL) – Shelves filled with brightly coloured bottles of cleaning soap now line a small shop in Wau as two young South Sudanese women work to grow a business that began with vocational training supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO. MonicaContinue Reading
(BRUSSELS) – The European Union has proposed its 21st package of sanctions against Russia, with measures targeting the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the energy sector, financial services, cryptocurrency trading and, for the first time, the fishing industry. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the new restrictionsContinue Reading
(MOSCOW) – A Moscow court has ordered the arrest in absentia of the Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Robert Brovdi, for the second time, in what marks the latest attempt by Russian judicial authorities to prosecute Ukrainian military commanders for operations conducted duringContinue Reading
