Business in South Sudan

South Sudan has an established but fragmented business system. The formal path may involve the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the Business Registration System, the Ministry of Trade and Industry or a state trade ministry, the South Sudan Revenue Authority, the South Sudan Investment Authority, the Bank of South Sudan and a chamber of commerce. No single nationwide registration and closure procedure has been verified, so a company may need to contact several bodies rather than complete every step through one office. Businesses can use structures such as a business name or sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company and other company forms listed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Companies Act 2012 provides the main company-law framework. Current application forms and document requirements should be checked in the relevant online service before filing because administrative practice can change. A typical formal sequence starts with business or company-name validation by the Directorate of Registration of Businesses. Validation is listed as free. After registration, the business obtains a business registration number and applies for a tax identification number, known as a TIN, through the South Sudan Revenue Authority's eTax system. The sequence normally runs from Ministry of Justice validation to business registration, then the director's TIN and the business TIN. An active telephone number and email address are required for the eTax process, and the tax clearance certificate is issued through eTax. Tax returns, payment of applicable business profit tax, withholding obligations and other charges depend on the business and the current Financial Act. Registration alone may not authorize operations. A business may need an operation licence, and activities involving imports, exports, customs, food, health, medicines, medical equipment, agriculture or regulated standards can require additional registrations, permits or certificates. Examples include import or export registration, an import or export licence, customs form C17, standards or conformity documentation, phytosanitary or health clearances and, for medicines or medical equipment, clearance from the relevant drug and food authority. An operation-licence procedure is documented at the headquarters of the Central Equatoria State Ministry of Trade and Industry in Juba; that evidence should not be treated as a nationwide rule for every state. A chamber membership certificate may also be relevant, including through the Central Equatoria Chamber. Foreign investors face additional conditions. The Investment Promotion Act 2009 provides the investment framework. A national investor may register an investment, while an investor from outside South Sudan generally needs an investment certificate before investing. Priority sectors and activities reserved for nationals can affect eligibility, and the current reservation list should be confirmed with the responsible investment authority. A foreign tax registration normally requires a passport, valid alien registration, valid work permit, telephone number and email address. Entry permission, alien registration and a separate work permit are different matters; the trade ministry's guidance refers to alien registration within 72 hours and six-month validity, but current fees and state practice require verification. Published fee figures illustrate the possible scale but are historical and must be checked against the current Financial Act and Ministry of Justice schedule before payment. The 2023/24 schedule listed 100,000 South Sudanese pounds for a national company, 2,000 US dollars for a foreign company, 2,000 US dollars for a joint venture, 25,000 South Sudanese pounds for a partnership and 25,000 South Sudanese pounds for a business name. It also listed annual-return fees of 25,000 South Sudanese pounds for a national company and 400 US dollars for a foreign company, with the same figures shown for national and foreign liquidation or winding-up. Fees may change and exchange-rate conditions can affect the practical burden. The available evidence shows why formal registration should be assessed alongside operating conditions. The 2019 Integrated Business Enterprise Survey covered 13,348 establishments in 12 urban centres and found that 58.7% had no more than two employees. About 55% were formal without applying a size filter, while only 10.7% were formal under a definition limited to businesses with at least six employees; rural businesses were not covered. A 2024 World Bank Enterprise Survey, conducted from July 2024 to January 2025, covered 157 formal private firms with at least five employees and therefore cannot be generalized to all micro, small or informal businesses. For the formal firms in that survey, political instability was the most frequently identified major obstacle overall, followed by access to land, access to finance, corruption and tax rates. Among small firms, access to finance was the leading obstacle, followed by tax rates and access to land. Electrical outages affected 68.4% of surveyed firms, 94.4% used imported inputs and bribery incidence was reported at 27.4%. These figures describe the surveyed formal firms, not every business in South Sudan. Small enterprises may need to plan for power, transport, imported supplies, inflation, foreign-exchange volatility, land access and administrative delays from the beginning. Finance is usually case-dependent rather than an automatic public entitlement. The Bank of South Sudan's National Payment System aims to support digital payments, reduce payment and account costs and improve access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. In the formal-firm survey, 91.4% had a bank or savings account, 72.7% financed investment internally and 7.3% used bank finance; among small firms, 80.4% relied on internal funds and 3.9% on bank finance. Banks and microfinance providers assess applicants individually, and no general state-backed start-up loan entitlement has been verified. Market access can require additional proof. For National Bank of South Sudan vendor registration, the published requirements include a business registration certificate, tax clearance certificate, company profile, bank reference and directors' identification documents. The stated processing time is 21 working days, the registration is free and it is valid for three years. This is an institution-specific vendor process, not a nationwide requirement for every business. Registered vendors may receive notifications and prequalification opportunities. Agriculture, livestock, trade, import substitution and natural-resource value chains are highly relevant areas. The National Export and Investment Strategy 2023 identifies fruits and vegetables, gum arabic, hides and skins, natural honey, oilseeds and wildlife tourism as priority sectors and refers to access through the East African Community and the African Continental Free Trade Area. The practical opportunity depends on infrastructure, energy, internet access, logistics, inflation, foreign exchange and the applicable sector permits. Women- and youth-led enterprises may find project-based grants, mentoring and business-development programmes through the Women Enterprise and Opportunities Fund and partners such as UN Women, the World Bank, the International Rescue Committee and the Organization for Community Action. The African Development Bank's 2025-2028 youth and women-led micro and small enterprise programme is focused on Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Western Bahr el Ghazal; these programmes are call-based and do not create a general grant entitlement. A business that stops trading is not automatically free of its obligations. The Companies Act 2012 and Insolvency Act 2011 provide for liquidation or winding-up, but a complete publicly verified process covering company closure, tax deregistration and licence cancellation is not available. The owner or directors should clarify the steps separately with the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the South Sudan Revenue Authority and the relevant national or state licensing body. Annual returns, tax filings, financial and company records, licences and sector documents should be kept until the responsible authorities confirm that the relevant obligations and registrations have ended.