UNDP, Cooperative Bank seal deal to boost rural finance in South Sudan

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Cooperative Bank of South Sudan have signed a landmark agreement to expand financial services for farmers and rural enterprises, in what officials describe as a major boost to the country’s agricultural transformation.

The deal, announced Friday in Juba, falls under the multi-donor Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Development (READ) project, which aims to improve credit access, strengthen agricultural cooperatives and build financial literacy across seven counties.

Caroline Mwongera, country director for the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said the agreement marks a significant step in strengthening rural financial systems.

“This agreement represents a transformational step in strengthening South Sudan’s rural financial systems,” she said, noting that IFAD is overseeing a major grant supporting the programme.

The seven-year READ project is funded through a $20 million IFAD grant, alongside contributions from the South Sudanese government ($1.4 million), Cooperative Bank ($1.8 million), UNDP ($1.4 million) and local communities ($700,000). It targets about 162,000 beneficiaries, half of them women and 70 percent youth.

Evans Kenyi Solomon, a technical adviser at the Ministry of Agriculture, said the initiative positions cooperatives at the centre of rural development.

“Youth and women empowerment is not a side agenda. It is the engine that drives peace, prosperity and resilience,” he said, adding that cooperatives connect farmers to inputs, markets and financial services.

Cooperative Bank managing director Elijah Wamalwa described the partnership as the culmination of years of planning.

“Today marks an important step because we have finally agreed to walk this journey together,” he said.

The bank plans to scale up rural lending through expanded agency banking and a new mobile-based financial platform.

 “We want a future where a farmer in Nimule or Torit can access credit as easily as someone in Juba,” he added.

UNDP’s deputy representative, Ligane Sene, said the project offers a timely opportunity to diversify South Sudan’s oil-dependent economy.

He said stronger cooperatives and group-based farming would help push the country from food imports toward food self-sufficiency, while also supporting a gradual shift to a cashless economy through a new national payment framework.

The READ project will be implemented in Aweil, Renk, Nzara, Yambio, Maridi, Terekeka and Magwi counties.