Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in South Sudan are calling on the government streamline product certification and address the high costs associated with the process.
According to enterprise owners attending the 25th East African Community (EAC) MSME Trade Fair, numerous fees required in the product certification process for the issuance of the standards mark is stifling production.
“Certification process is very tedious and very expensive,” said one of the traders.
The high cost has lead to many MSMEs failing to ensure their products have standards mark a move which denies them access to markets and scalability.
“Because there is a fee for application form, there is a fee for audit, there is a fee for you to get the S Mark so some MSMEs will disappear because they lack capital to invest especial when it comes to testing for compliance,” said Naima Samson, Director for Certification and Exports, National Bureau of Standards, South Sudan.
According to data by the Observatory of Economics Complexity (OEC), South Sudan exports totaled $701 million in 2023 against imports valued at $1.62 billion.
Traders at the trade fair also took issues with the centralization of the standards bureaus services which are only available in Juba City.
“Sometimes they need to facilitate the auditors to come from the city to where they stay,” she added.
Speaking during South Sudan Day at the fair, South Sudan Deputy Head of Mission in Kenya Aida Eriminio Wande said the EAC member states is keen to expand its product export to the region focusing on processed goods.
“Our presence here this week is a powerful declaration. It is a declaration that South Sudan is open for business. It is a declaration that beyond the headlines, there lies a nation beaming with potential, rich in national resources and beaming with resilience and ambitions of people,” she said
“The MSMEs that we showcased here are the lifeblood of our economy, and the engine of our innovation. They are the farmers processing our rich organic honey, they are the artisans crafting our beautiful leather goods.”
She said South Sudan is ready to attract investments which will support the country’s economic growth through agro-processing and value addition.
During this years trade fair which brings together 3000 MSMEs from the eight EAC members states, South Sudan was represented by at least 34 small enterprises.
