South Sudan’s Vice President for Economic Cluster, Dr. James Wani Igga, has called on South Sudanese to diversify the country’s economy through farming.
Dr. Igga made the remarks Thursday while addressing delegates at the First Edition of the Juba Economic Forum organized by the Central Equatoria Business Union (CEBU).
“The priority is to strive constantly to add value and raise productivity that means we have to produce and we must produce. This dependency on relief has misled us. We depend on our neighbors for our food, and we don’t want to produce. So one day if these neighbors are not happy with us we will die of hunger,” he warns.
Speaking at the same event, the Chairman of CEBU Mr. Juma Khamis said the initiative is meant to transform economic growth.
“The vision of the Juba Economic Forum is to contribute to the transformation of South Sudan through the emergence of an inclusive, dynamic, and growing economy. The mission to which Juba Economic Forum is established is to be a premier platform for dialogue, advocacy, policy development, and innovation on matters pertaining to the economic transformation, ” he explained.
“The core objectives as to why Juba Economic Forum is established are to create an enabling and conducive environment for sharing ideas on tackling challenges of economic transformation. The second objective is to promote civic engagement and awareness about opportunities for the development of small and medium enterprises,” he added.
The event was opened Thursday by South Sudan’s Vice President in charge of economic clusters Dr. James Wani Igga.
The First Edition of the Juba Economic Forum which commenced in Juba on Thursday brought in experts, entrepreneurs, think tanks, business leaders, academicians, civil society, and policymakers to brainstorm on challenges, strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities that exist in the economy.