South Sudanese are concerned over the alarming increase in prices of commodities and consumer goods in the capital Juba and the oil-producing capital, Bentiu.
While Juba is the capital city and also doubles as the seat of the national government, it is also the capital of Central Equatoria State. Residents of Juba are a diverse demography of South Sudan’s ten states and three administrative areas. On the other hand, Bentiu city, the capital of Unity State, sits between vast oilfields, and the state finances large portions of South Sudan’s budget through the oil revenue it earns the country.
Radio Tamazuj has spoken to residents of the two cities about the unprecedented rise in commodity prices and how this has impacted the economy, access to basic goods and services and how citizens are coping with these changes. From the war in Sudan to the problem of inflation, Radio Tamazuj brings to you what residents have said.
Rhoda Gatkew lives in an Internally Displaced Person’s (IDP) camp in Bentiu. She complained about the rising prices of commodities.
“I used to go to the market to buy commodities in the sector two market daily. Commodity prices are increasing; like sugar, 1kg is 4000 SSP, and for maize flour, 1kg is 3,500 SSP. In the past two months, sugar 1kg was 3,000 SSP, maize flour 1kg was 1,500 SSP,” Rhoda stated and added that she empathizes with those poor residents of Bentiu who cannot afford commodities at the current market prices.
Jal Juach Teny, also a resident of Bentiu IDP camp, has said he has no job and is unable to provide basic food and other needs for his family.
He shared that prices of commodities in IDP camp markets have soared in recent months: “Sugar 50kg is now 80,000 SSP, maize 50kg is now 42,000 SSP, Sorghum 50kg is now 25,000 SSP.”
“It has happened because of the conflict in Sudan. At the same time, the road from Bentiu to Sudan was closed because of conflict. The situation in Bentiu IDP and Bentiu town is getting increasingly worse due to the rise in commodity prices,” Jal explained.
Jal also observed that the foreign exchange of the United States dollar to the South Sudanese Pounds is 100 USD to 92,000 SSP in Bentiu. “I am requesting the government of Unity State to reconstruct the road from Mayom County to South Sudan’s capital, Juba. This is whereby our commodities prices will reduce,” Jal said.
Jal further explained that within the next two weeks, the markets within Bentiu IDP camp and Rubkhona market will shut down because of the impact of flooding during expected heavy rains and continued violence in northern Sudan.
Abdulaziz Suliman, a trader in the Rubkona market, said that there’s no road accessibility for transportation of commodities from Juba to Bentiu –that this why all the commodities prices are high and costs keep increasing. Abdulghazi has said price increases are a negative impact of the war raging in Sudan.
“There are commodities but their prices are very high, like white sugar 50kg 75,000 SSP, brown sugar 50kg 74,000 SSP, maize 50kg 80,000 SSP, one bag of Sorghum 90kg costs 52,00 SSP in the big shops,” he said.
Nyamal Deng sells tea in Leer County. She spoke to Radio Tamazuj last Wednesday about the daily rise in commodity prices in the county: “I used to sell tea in Leer market, but my business has been affected by prices of sugar because I used to buy sugar 1kg with 6,000 ssp. Now, in my shop, a cup of tea costs 200 SSP from 150 SSP two months ago, a cup of coffee is 350 SSP from 200 SSP, and a cup of milk tea is 400 SSP from 250 SSP,” Nyamal detailed.
“I am getting nothing from selling tea. All my profits go back to cover the cost of sugar,” she explained.
Another trader in Bentiu town, George Tut Maok, who sells charcoal and elephant grass, spoke to Radio Tamazuj and identified transportation challenges as the main driver of the rising price of commodities.
“We are going to increase the prices very soon because the rate of the United States dollar is increasing every day here in Bentiu. The current rate is 92,000 SSP for 100 USD (last week on Wednesday),” Maok revealed.
Majuop Hamid is the chairperson of the Traders Union of Sudanese representatives in Bentiu. He confirmed that commodity prices had been on the rise across Unity State over the last two weeks.
“We increased the prices of commodities last week because of the costs of bringing the goods from Sudan. There were no ways of transporting our goods from Sudan to Juba, then from Juba to Bentiu,” Majuop explained.
Majuop stated that members of the union had attempted to use river transport to move commodities from Sudan to Bentiu or from Juba to Bentiu, but sadly they faced the challenge of too many tax checkpoints along the Nile and other r tributaries.
He has reiterated the need for the Unity State government to prioritize constructing the road from Bentiu to Mayom County. He says this will result in a significant reduction in commodity prices.
Unity State Minister for Trade, Hon. Antioni Kach Liey, spoke to Radio Tamazuj last Thursday and acknowledged the sharp increase in commodity prices. He attributed this development to the impact of the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
The State Trade minister explained that a meeting was convened between Unity State governor Dr. Joseph Monytuil and representatives of business and traders to address all challenges facing the business community as well as the impact of high prices on consumers.
“We as a state government are working hard to complete and make the road from Mayom County to Bentiu town accessible again so that commodities can come from Juba,” Trade Minister Kach Liey stated.
Less than three meals a day
As prices of food commodities continue to rise across South Sudan, residents in the capital Juba said they are having fewer meals in a day. They have urged the government to address challenges facing the economy.
Speaking exclusively to Radio Tamazuj, most residents believe that the increase in prices of commodities is caused by the rise fluctuation of the United States dollar against the South Sudanese Pound. Currently, 1 USD sells at 970 South Sudanese pounds (SSP) and 1,000 SSP in the black market.
Karina Samuel, a resident of Munuki Block (c), said women face challenges when putting food on the table for their families: “In the present situation, things have really gone very high” Karina said. “For example, in the previous months, this 10 Kgs maize flour was sold at 6500 SSP, but currently in the market, if you go, its 16,000 0r 17,000 SSP,” she explained.
“Also, you look at things like beans. By then, a cup was sold at 1,000 SSP. But currently, when you go, you find it at 1,500 or 1,700 SSP,” Karina said.
According to Karina, a bottle of cooking oil has risen from 1,000 SSP to 1,500 SSP, emphasizing that all these increases in commodity prices have made it difficult for residents of Juba City to survive.
“You know women are really creative. With all the small money we manage, even if we’re given 5,000 SSP, we can really manage and buy something to eat,” Karina revealed.
Sandra Dikun, another resident of Gudele Block (9), said the month of May is the worst compared to the past two months. “Concerning the prices of things in the market, if you compare last month and this month, things are changing on a daily basis. Last month you could buy one little of oil at 1,500 SSP, but now it is 2,000 SSP,” she stated.
“By then, we used to buy tomatoes at 200 SSP. But now you cannot get tomatoes at 200. Everything is changing in the market. Like this 10 KGs of maize flour –by then, we used to buy it at 6,000 SSP, but now it has gone to 8,500 SSP,” she said.
She noted that most traders cite the high dollar exchange rate as one of the reasons for the skyrocketing commodity prices.
“Concerning the issues of rising prices, people are telling us that the dollar has gone high. And for sure these days, as you can see, the daily meals have been reduced from three to two. Because even the salaries given will not be enough to sustain the family,” Sandra explained.
Sandra also called on the government to have control over the dollar exchange rate in the country to avoid irregular price fluctuations.
Judith Talata, another consumer who buys her essential food items in the Libya market area, believes that with the current prices, most families are having less than three meals.
“The first thing is that the dollar has gone high and has made things very hard to purchase. It has even made some families go for one meal in a day. Some of them even don’t have anything to eat in a day,” she said
Judith said it has become very hard for her and her family to afford ten kilograms of maize flour which sells now for 8,000 SSP or even more.
“We used to buy 10kgs at 5,000 SSP, but now it has gone really high and affording it is really very hard. Tomatoes, onions and cooking oil have gone very high,” she added.
According to the consumer, the prices of every food item across the city have gone high. Currently, one Kg of maize flour sells at 1,000 SSP, from less than 1,000 SSP two months back. Meanwhile, a bucket of maize, cassava and sorghum sells at 8,000 SSP, 7,000 SSP and 6,000 SSP, respectively.
Flora Tumalu, who is pursuing her PhD in Business Administration at the University of Juba, described the current high cost of living in the capital Juba as terrible for consumers, noting that the common citizens are paying a heavy price.
“The current crisis has really affected the prices in the market; consumers are the people suffering most. Normally being the final person, they are the ones carrying the burden,” Tumalu said.
“So, there are people who are already sleeping hungry because they don’t have money to afford something from the market to eat. The rate of street children is increasing. Not only children. Even the big people are turning to become street people,” she revealed.
Tumalu further called on the government through the Central Equatoria Ministry of Commerce and Industry to have a unified price across markets in the capital.
Robert Pitia is the chairperson of the Central Equatoria State Chamber of Commerce; he has said the skyrocketing price of food commodities can be attributed to internal and external factors.
According to Pitia, the external factors include the war in Ukraine, which has caused the global food crisis.
“As all of us know, there is crisis around the world. The food prices and services have all gone high,” Pitia said.
“And also, the fuel prices have gone high and that has also caused an increase in transportation cost for vehicles bringing food items into our country because, you know, we’re a landlocked country,” he added.
He said other causes include high taxes imposed by neighbouring countries from where those goods were imported from.
The chairperson of the chamber said internal factors include multiple taxes by various organs of the government, ranging from the state to national institutions of the government.
“The internal factors can be managed and controlled by our people and government. Number one is multiple taxations on different levels of the government. We have the county, state revenue authority and the national revenue authority,” Pitia explained.
According to him, business personnel are being charged ‘rental value and profit tax’, which have contributed to the market’s skyrocketing prices. He said all these levels of government are taking the same taxes.
Roberts said they had raised these issues to the governor of Central Equatoria State and called on the state ministry of Trade and Investment to harmonize all state taxes.
He further commended the committee created by the State Ministry of Trade and Investment and Juba City Council for committing to harmonize taxes and for their work on scaling market prices.