Abel Kidambi knows too well the impact of the slump of the South Sudanese currency on his young family living in Kitale.
Three years ago, he would afford to send home Sh100,000 a month earned from his eateries. But today, he struggles to send Sh30,000 even though business is still vibrant despite the recent shocks in Juba occasioned by political wrangles.
“Times have changed very significantly for me and I think it has everything to do with the deprecation of the money here,” Mr Kidambi told The Standard at the Konyokonyo, the biggest market in Juba city.
Shortage of dollar inflows relating to disruption on the production of crude oil and withdrawal of the support of the international community has caused the sharp depreciation of the South Sudan Pound. The fall has been compounded by the fact that hardly any commodities including vegetables are produced in the country of about 11 million – traditionally pastoralist community.
The South Sudan pound is said to have depreciated by 85 per cent. The exchange rate for pound per US dollar declined to 18.5 pounds a dollar on exposure to market forces of supply and demand, down from a rate of 2.96 pound to the dollar.
The few dollars that come into the country are still spent on paying for imports, key among them being fuel for motoring and electricity generation. A free fall on the value of the pound means that traders like Kidambi struggle to find dollars to pay for supplies, and in the end weaken their profits as they cannot pass over the entire cost to the consumers who are equally hurt.
His wife and four-year-old son moved back home to Kitale three years ago after he felt the precarious safety situation could easily snap. He is however glad that stability has returned, and so have thousands of Kenyans who had fled three months ago.
Kenyan embassy in Juba estimates that there are about 8,000 citizens who are registered in the country, but there is a chance that they could be more who are undocumented. Kidambi is among the thousands of Kenyans who showed up at the embassy during the recent conflict between government forces and rebels, headed by deposed former Vice President Riek Machar. Several other nationalities including Ugandans were also evacuated by their respective nations by road and air, but the present level of business activity confirms that most have made their way back. Kidambi however did not seek evacuation at that instance, citing that all his investments were in the young nation and that there was nothing really he would do if he were to come back home.
“My business is here. My whole life is here,” he said, adding that while Kenya was safer and predictable, Juba offered a lot more business opportunities. On the hot afternoon we met him, he had just finished delivering foods to the traders and was making another round to collect the dishes and payments.
Typical dishes prepared from his three eateries consist of rice, beef or goat meat, and cabbages – which are mostly imported from Uganda. Such a meal could cost anywhere around 150 pounds. The sizable Kenyan populations of traders at the Konyokonyo market form the biggest segment of his customers, he said, before quipping that he actually was their de facto spokesman.
In another part of the city, business is booming at a Kenyan-owned restaurant called Kanini Kaseo which serves delicacies like ugali and roast meat, widely referred to at home as nyama choma. It is common to find it full at meal times.
But not everyone is reeling from the currency collapse. Lucky Amisi is a Kenyan we met on the streets of Juba, who swears he would gladly stay on despite any safety concerns. “I think opportunities follow risk, and I am taking the risk to live here and do business,” said Amisi, who feels that life in Kenya was actually much harder since there are no jobs.
He told us that his business is in selling petroleum products to Non-Governmental Organisations, and that the evolution of the currency and economic environment has played out right before his eyes. In the three years he has been living in Juba, the price of petrol has changed little in dollar terms, even though it has risen five-fold in Pounds.
A litre of petrol and diesel retails for 22 Pounds (about Sh25) at the petrol stations — but the commodity is very difficult to find.
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