South Sudan's peace deal stimulates trade at border with Uganda

JUBA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The revitalized peace agreement in South Sudan has not only restored calm in the country but also boosted trade along the border with Uganda, traders said.

Civilians from both Uganda and South Sudan are relishing the return of normalcy since they are able to move freely and conduct business at the border town of Nimule.

Tombe Abdullamid, a South Sudanese businessman, told Xinhua at the custom office in Nimule town that his life has been transformed thanks to the brisk business that followed the signing of a peace deal.

"My business at the border is very flexible and the verification of the goods at both the Ugandan site of Elegu and Nimule is very encouraging," Abdullamid told Xinhua in a recent interview, adding that the current peace agreement is yielding huge dividends for him.

He revealed that he has operated the same line of business for the last three years, but couldn't see the margin of profit he made in about six months after the signing of the revitalized peace agreement.

John Makuei, a money changer at the border since 2007, said that business had flourished at the border amid parties' commitment to restoring peace along Juba-Nimule highway.

Makuei said that life was shattered following the renewed crashes in July 2016 which later spiked targeted killing along the country's major routes particularly 185 km Juba-Nimule road linking South Sudan to Uganda.

He revealed that since July 8, 2016, many commuters shunned the country's only tarmacked highway, resulting into a drastic decline of his line of business at the border, noting that the September deal has revived what he had lost.

Ndyanabo Vincent, a Ugandan plastic scrap dealer at the border also told Xinhua that the calm in the area has played a significant role in shaping the community's attitude toward foreigners.

Vincent said he started his business just five months before South Sudan's warring parties could sign the revitalized agreement and since then his mutual relationship with the locals has improved and his daily ends meet.

"I can now pay my children's school fees in Uganda because of this business I am doing between Nimule and Elegu border," said Vincent.