S.Sudan to revamp factories shuttered by war: official

By Alexander Dziadosz

JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan plans to invite investors to revamp about eight food, cement and textile plants shut down during a decades-long civil war, in a push to create jobs and reduce dependence on imports, an investment official said on Thursday.

South Sudan declared independence in July and is eager to draw in foreign investors to help build an economy devastated during one of Africa's longest and deadliest conflicts.

It also wants to diversify its economy away from oil, which provides some 98 percent of state revenues, and reduce its heavy dependence on goods shipped in from abroad, particularly from its former civil war enemy, Sudan.

Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Undersecretary Elizabeth Manoa Majok said the country aimed to seek bids on the first factory, an edible oils plant in the country's Lakes state, in the first quarter of next year.

"We are receiving a report (on the factory) at the end of this year, so the first quarter of the year we want to engage the potential investors in that area," she told Reuters in an interview, adding it may be tendered as a public-private partnership.

The factory dates back to 1948, British colonial rule in Sudan, and covered about 56,000 square metres, information provided by the ministry said.

Civil war waged for all but a few years since 1955 has left South Sudan with an almost complete lack of infrastructure and industry, aside from oil. The country has few paved roads outside the capital, Juba, and large parts become inaccessible by ground transport during the rainy season.

Often described as one of the world's least-developed nations, it has high levels of poverty, illiteracy and maternal mortality rates. Hospitals and schools are scarce.