Trinity Holdings, Afreximbank discuss South Sudan food crisis
The Chairman Board of Directors of Trinity Holdings, Akol Ayii, has said the food crisis facing South Sudan is worrying and it needs quicker intervention measures.
Speaking with Kanayo Awani, the Vice President of Afreximbank on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting in Cairo, Akol said the crisis in South Sudan had called for an invitation of bank’s President, Prof Benedict Oramah, to the country, to help the two entities find contribute in alleviating the crisis in South Sudan.
“I was suggesting that now that you have lost the opportunity for the minister to come, I would suggest that we have the first delegation of the bank in the first week of July, to go and make an engagement with stakeholders,” Akol.
South Sudan was expecting President Oramah on June 19, 2022, but it was all interrupted by prior preparations for the postponed visit of Pope Francis.
“It is always good to come on the bench to discuss the importance of this relationship. Everybody is managing a crisis. I know the bank has come up with initiatives on how to manage this crisis, every country is trying to solve their own problems, and if you merge these, I think you will be able to get the solution,” Akol said.
He assured the Afreximbank team that President Salva Kiir Mayardit had already been informed about the visit by Nigeria’s Special Envoy and himself (Chairman) before his trip to Cairo.
Part of the meeting was closed and it was not clear what the Afreximbank team said in response to their visit to the country, however, the bank has already agreed to procure food into the country in a bid to end hunger and starvation across the country at the trying moments of COVID-19 Pandemic and repercussions of war between Ukraine and Russia.
On Friday, Afreximbank’s Relationship Manager in Cairo, Kudakwashe Matereke met with the Trinity Holdings team, to arrange the procurement of food into the country to curb hunger and starvation.
This was a follow-up of the memorandum of understanding signed by the government of South Sudan and the government of Malawi to iron out challenges related to food insecurity in South Sudan.
Matereke pledged to coordinate with the Afreximbank office in Malawi to ensure that food arrives in the country soon.
The General Manager of Trinity Holdings, Chandra Kumar, told The City Review that the project was imperative to curb food scarcity among South Sudanese communities who have fallen victims to natural catastrophes.
“Concerning food scarcity, the government of South Sudan and the government of Malawi, have signed a memorandum of understanding for the supply of food from Malawi to South Sudan. In this we have ordered food items like maize flour, beans, rice, sugar, tea leaves and all those commodities,” said Kumar
“Moreover, this will be financed by Afreximbank, which has got its headquarter in Cairo, and in Malawi, there is an export development fund working under Afreximbank, so they will be able to finance the supplier from Malawi, and they will transport it to South Sudan.”
Trinity Holdings is among the shareholders of Afreximbank which had been running road construction projects on Nimule-Juba highway, the Juba International Airport renovation projects as well as social services to the youth and women in Central and Eastern Equatoria State.
