- May 4, 2024
- Posted by: Tekajwok Ogut
- Category: News
Wednesday, April 17, 2024- Washington DC, USA
Department of Communication and Media- MoFP
South Sudan’s Minister of Finance and Panning, Hon. Eng. Awow Daniel Chuang joined six of his counterparts from the region to attend the Horn of Africa Initiative meeting as part of the World Bank/ IMF Spring meetings in Washington DC in a session chaired by the Victoria Kwakwa the World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa region.
Established in October 2019 by five regional countries (Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea), the Horn of Africa Initiative is a regional body that aims to further the development agenda of the member states and stresses the importance of regional, coordinated and concerted action among the countries to face common development challenges impeding economic growth. The Horn of Africa Imitative is a robust platform for its members to pursue regional priorities in a decisive and coordinated manner.
In his address at the meeting, Minister Awow stressed the commitment of South Sudan to ensure speedy implementation of projects of the Horn of Africa Initiative despites joining the body late last year.
He added that the forum creates a great opportunity for members to learn from each other’s experiences and share contacts for further bilateral developmental engagements. Minister Awow urged the initiative to encourage opening up of regional borders to encourage trade and boost development, citing the case with neighboring Sudan where borders between the two countries remined closed since independence of South Sudan.
On energy and roads infrastructure programs, Minister Awow commended the multi-donor funded projects for the region but urged for speedy implementation of the green energy to avoid countries to resort to cheap options like fossil fuel supported energy. He added that the cost of mini-thermal power plants in every town could be cheaper and easy for countries like South Sudan to implement but long-term options like connecting the country through high-tension power lines from region would sustainable.
The meeting was attended by the 7 member countries namely; South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Eritrea and Djibouti and supervised by representatives of the World Bank, Africa Development Bank, European Union, IGAD, Common Wealth and donor countries (Japan, US, UK, Saudi Arabia, and Germany).
