By John Oywa

The challenge facing Kenyans in Southern Sudan is the high cost of living. Experts say Juba is one of the most expensive towns in the world.

Although it is the largest and the capital city of the semi-autonomous country, Juba remains a collection of old scattered buildings, mud walled and make shift bamboo structures.

The fact that the town has no industries and housing make the price of food and rent extremely high.

Electricity supply is erratic, forcing government offices, NGOs and the business community to use generators. Tap water is scarce and most residents rely on water brought in by bourses from River Nile.

A three bedroom house without electricity or running water costs $3,000 (about Sh270,000) a month). A 300ml bottled water costs Sh100.

Although there are many hotels in Juba, accommodation that costs about Sh4,000 in Nairobi and Kisumu goes for $160 (Sh12,320). It includes bed and breakfast. Dinner costs $40 (Sh4,000) in most hotels. A bottle of Tusker beer goes for Sh245 while a bottle of soda costs Sh175 in a middle-class hotel.

Though well furnished and with Internet facilities, almost all the hotels in central Juba are built with pre-fabricated materials.

High cost of living

At Quality Hotel, which hosts VIPs and is the only one built with stones, a double room costs $330 (Sh25,400) including bed and breakfast. A single room costs $160. This is higher than some of the five star hotels in Nairobi.

Taxi charges range between Sh3,500 and Sh10,000, depending on destination.

The cheapest haircut in central Juba costs 20 Sudanese pounds (about Sh800) while trimming a beard costs Sh200.

Experts attribute the high cost of living in Juba to scarcity of food and less service industry.

Southern Sudan is still recovering from the 21-year-old civil war and has not embraced agriculture and the service industry.

Most of the food and drinks consumed in Juba and surrounding towns is trucked from Uganda, Kenya, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

"The high food prices and unavailability of housing are not recent issues. The people who live around the city do not produce enough food to sustain a big city like Juba. Thus, Juba depends entirely on supplies from neighbouring countries and surrounding towns, especially Yei, Terkeka, Mongala and Bor," said a Government of Southern Sudan official.

The high cost is also linked to the high money circulation. With the massive presence of UN and several NGOs, many Sudanese and foreigners in Juba swim in money.

The NGOs pay their workers handsomely, hence the high cost of goods.

Some international NGOs, sources told us pay expatriates up to $16,000 (about Sh1.2 million) per month.