Overview

Doing Business in Juba 2011 measures business regulations and their enforcement in Juba, Southern Sudan. The report focuses on 9 topics that affect the life of a small or medium-size domestic enterprise in Juba: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and closing a business. The ease of doing business in Juba can now be compared to the ease of doing business in other economies measured annually by Doing Business. It is one of the first reports providing benchmarking data for Juba and Southern Sudan.

Main Findings

• Compared to the 183 economies measured by Doing Business, Juba would rank 159th on the ease of doing business. Behind this ranking, however, there are considerable variations on a topic by topic basis (see figure below).
• On the ease of starting a business, Juba would rank 123rd. Thanks to the success of the well staffed and governed Business Registry set up in 2006, entrepreneurs can start a business in just 15 days. However, costs are high because of multiple fees to state and local authorities.
• On protecting investors, getting credit, and closing a business, Juba would rank 173rd, 176th, 179th respectively, reflecting an incomplete legal framework.
• On trading across borders, Juba would rank 181st. Using the port of Mombasa in Kenya, an entrepreneur must fill 11 documents, wait 60 days and spend US$9,420 to import a container and 9 documents, 52 days and US$5,025 to export it. Over half of the delay is due to paperwork: to obtain a letter of credit, traders must first obtain an approval from the Bank of Southern Sudan to transfer funds abroad, which adds 22 days to the process.