South Sudan

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td width="42%">The Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP II) aims to promote economic growth in the East African Community (EAC) through private sector development and export promotion. It seeks to enhance sustainable and inclusive intra-African trade, pan-African trade, and trade with the European Union (EU). MARKUP II will address trade barriers, value addition, compliance, trade facilitation, investment, technology transfer, and institutional support. The programme has a total budget of &euro;40 million, funded by the EU under the Sub-Saharan Africa Multi-Annual Indicative Programme from 2023 to 2027. The International Trade Centre (ITC) is the only implementation agency, working in partnership with the EU regional Delegation, the EAC Secretariat and the governments of six EAC member states. MARKUP II builds on the achievements of its predecessor, MARKUP I, streamlining procedures, supporting enterprises, and facilitating international trade. The sectors of intervention are: avocado, cocoa, coffee, essential oils, French beans, gum Arabic, horticulture, leather, packaging, spices and tea.<br></td></tr></tbody></table>

<p>This National Export and Investment Strategy (NEIS) will help foster trade and investment in South Sudan through a combination of effective strategic planning, improved national and subnational government technical support and private sector leadership capacity. This will be achieved by boosting priority sectors (to be identified and selected as part of the strategy design process), developing value chains, and building the implementation, management and analytical capacity of relevant public and private sector stakeholders, notably trade and investment agencies, to mobilize resources and lead the implementation of the actions defined in the strategy. An additional key objective of the NEIS is to support South Sudan&rsquo;s integration at the global level through WTO accession process, and at the pan-African through the AfCFTA. To this end, priority sectors and investment potential will be assessed partially based on the opportunities foreseen with the integration of the African regional market.</p>

<p>To investigate the potential of expanding investment (and trade) linkages between India and Africa, capitalizing on the structural changes and resulting opportunities brought forth by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). &nbsp;</p><p>Will assess constraints and opportunities in each of these four areas and provide concrete recommendations for policy action. In addition, several transversal thematic areas will be probed and emphasized upon &ndash; technology and knowledge transfer, south-south cooperation at the institutional level, developing technical capacities, and environmental sustainability. The paper can eventually evolve into a strategic action plan for both policymakers and the private sector in India.</p><p>The objective is to analyze opportunities for enhancing Indian investment in Africa from four perspectives - automotive, pharmaceutical, agro-processing, textile, and renewable energy -with case studies in each to describe working models which may enhance business interest and highlight potential.</p><p>Case studies on investments under Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa (SITA) will also be updated to reflect the current, post-investment operating environment.</p><p><br></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">This project emanates from the technical assistance request of the Government of South Sudan to the International Trade Centre. It has specific objectives of improving the competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and increasing employment opportunities for the South Sudanese labour force, with a focus on youth and women. In particular, it aims to provide an integrated and holistic assistance for the development of MSMEs in the fruits and vegetables value chains to create quick-win economic and employment opportunities for South Sudanese population targeted under the project. It will address the main challenges of the fruits and vegetables subsector along the value chains by improving production, processing and handling practices; building capacities of MSMEs to comply with mandatory market requirements and standards for enhanced access to markets; enhancing human skills as well as strengthening producer cooperatives. It will also address the employment problems of youth and women by building entrepreneurship and business management capacities and implementing innovative schemes to facilitate access to finance for youth entrepreneurs and youth-owned businesses.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The project has an overall objective of improving the livelihoods of targeted South Sudanese populations through the creation of jobs and income.</p>