Mila Joshua Yona
The secret to any business success is timing. Some people think by just having a business idea and implementing it, they will be successful- No, my friend. That’s not how it really works.
South Sudan currently has so many untapped opportunities that you can exploit. If you’re able to change course and jump on an opportunity in the present day, you will be able to lead the market and cash in on demand.
Just think about how many businesses emerged during the first wave of the Covid-19 saga. The supply of masks and sanitizers grew rampantly. Let alone pharmaceutical companies that started producing COVID-19 vaccines.
What I’m trying to say is that South Sudan currently has so many problems and in those problems, that’s where your multi-million business idea lies. If you can solve a problem, you can make enough money to make you a millionaire.
In this article, we shall be exploring some of the business ideas that you can start today and become a millionaire if you persist. Let’s get straight into the article.
1. Solar Power
Solar energy is one of South Sudan’s most abundant natural resources. South Sudan enjoys more than 300 days of free God-given sunlight every year. And that attributes to the reason why most parts of South Sudan are very hot.
Still, over 80% of the population in South Sudan especially the outskirts of Juba and the other states don’t have access to reliable electricity. Even within Juba, power outages are the norm and people often have to rely on noisy petrol and diesel power generators.
Interestingly, solar energy is very free, clean, and abundant thus providing the best alternative for people in remote parts of South Sudan who are out of reach of electricity grids.
When you look elsewhere in Africa, some smart entrepreneurs have risen to the challenge of lighting Africa through Solar energy and are very likely to become millionaires in the process.
Some notable examples include: M-Kopa of Kenya, SolarNow of Uganda, and The Sun Exchange of South Africa, Solarpak of Ivory Coast, Oolu, and Peg Africa of West Africa, Daystar Power of Mauritius, Tizeti of Nigeria, SolarWorks of Mozambique, and Zola Electric of Tanzania
2. Agribusiness
Agribusiness is South Sudan’s untapped goldmine and a potential source of millionaires. Since everyone must eat every day of their lives, this sector would never run short of demand. With an estimated population of over 12 million people, South Sudan provides a huge and ready market for agribusiness.
South Sudan imports most of the food commodities from Uganda, Kenya, etc. Among the top imports include; Raw Sugar ($42.1M) and palm oil ($18.6M).
You can start churning millions even if you just invest in some sub-sectors of Agribusiness. Examples would be wheat farming, poultry farming, rice farming, passion fruit farming, etc.
All you need to do is, robust market research and select a high-yielding agribusiness sector that you can focus on.
Elsewhere, countries like Nigeria and Angola are already tapping into the vast opportunities of the Agribusiness market as a means to diversify their economies.
3. Smartphone Sales
Smartphone sales have proven great profitability in South Sudan. With its lucrative nature, consumers are always looking to upgrade from ‘first generation’ feature phones to smartphones. What boosts it more is even the growing population of technology and savvy youths who will do anything to remain uptrend with the latest gadgets on market.
However, most preferred smartphone devices like iPhone, Blackberry, and Samsung are quite expensive for the average South Sudanese prompting the local population to opt for low-budget phones.
And there is no better way to kick-start your smartphone sales business in South Sudan other than importing cheap mobile phones imported from China. Most of them are built on the Android operating system and have similar features to high-end smartphones with stylish designs.
4. Internet Access
South Sudan’s internet market is worth millions of dollars. South Sudan has one of the lowest internet access across the East African region. With that, even the data rates are quite expensive for the average South Sudanese.
This makes it difficult for businesses to go digital and operate online. Nevertheless, it hinders the local population from accessing information across the World Wide Web.
And as much as this is considered a dot com generation, this doesn’t apply to South Sudan. There are high illiteracy rates when it comes to emerging technologies and computers.
South Sudan currently has three telecommunication companies (MTN, ZAIN & DIGITEL) monopolizing the South Sudan market with no better services compared to the other East African Countries like Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, etc.
Other Internet Service Providers include Telecom-4g, RCS, Star Satellite Communications Company Pjsc, Deltanet-fiber, IPTEC Limited, RCS-Communication, Trinity-Technologies and IPTECH
If you can make impressive moves to conquer the internet access market in South Sudan, then you will surely be smiling at the bank after all the hard work is done.
5. Education & Training Service
South Sudan’s human capital is one of the most ignored and underexplored assets. The country is rich with creative and innovative talent. But the poor access to quality education has become a serious threat to South Sudan’s human capital.
Most of the wealthy individuals have taken their children abroad for education, ignoring the minority who can’t afford it. You find them investing in other countries while South Sudan remains barren with no proper high-quality educational institutions and high illiteracy rates.
If there is any good school in South Sudan, only the wealthy individuals are able to access it hence creating a wide spectrum between the rich and poor.
However, if you can build an incredible education model of low-cost primary and secondary schools that allow pupils to pay as low as $1 a day as school fees. You will drastically start reaping from it in the long run.
6. South Sudanese Art
How much do you think South Sudanese Art is worth these days? Honestly, I have no idea but elsewhere artists are making millions of dollars just from antique African art.
Back in November 2014, a collection of antique African art from Mali, Gabon, Congo, and Liberia was sold in New York at Sotheby’s for a record-breaking price of $41 million. This is the largest ever sum realized from the sale of African art in the USA.
This proves just how African art is attracting high prices in the world’s major art markets –more investors and collectors are upping the demand for African Art.
Therefore if you can produce both antique and contemporary works of South Sudanese art, be rest assured that you can become a millionaire in the process.
7. Apps and Online Services
South Sudan’s digital economy is growing really slow since there is a problem with internet access. When you go to countries like Uganda and Kenya, you will realize that many of their services have an app or at least are online.
In rare cases will you not find an app or online service for anything you want? If you’re looking for accommodation, there is an app for hotel booking. If you want to go somewhere, there is an uber app or Boda Boda app.
So if you want to become a millionaire in South Sudan, launch an app or online service that can solve problems and provide value to the people of South Sudan.
8. Payment Solutions
Every year in South Sudan, over $1 billion in transactions are still done in cash. This presents an ideal and lucrative financial services opportunity for savvy south Sudanese entrepreneurs.
A lot of people are often skeptical about mobile money services in the country. They don’t actually believe that their money can be safely kept on such platforms. And even though they exist, their services are still so limited to solve problems and offer value.
Payment solutions in South Sudan include: MGurush and NilePay
South Sudan lacks a big-money transfer and payment service which makes this area a sure watch in the coming years.
9. Real Estate
South Sudan’s real estate market is a multi-million dollar opportunity and several millionaires can build their fortunes in this market.
If you have ever been to Juba, South Sudan then you must know Mr. Lokuk. Over 60% of the buildings in Juba belong to him. He has invested a lot in the real estate and construction business. So there’s no doubt that he is indeed a millionaire.
When it comes to real estate projects, the biggest attractions are high-rise hotels, office buildings, residential homes, apartments, and shopping malls.
The demand is triggered by the large population of a youthful population, an expanding middle class, increasing urbanization, an influx of expatriates and multinational companies.
10. Start-Up Financing
If you have the capital to invest in startup and early-stage businesses, it’s high time you start investing.
Across Africa today, start-up companies are seeking venture capital, social impact funds, and private equity and angel investors to invest in their projects and get higher returns.
South Sudan has many young entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas that have the potential to significantly disrupt both new and established markets. It’s almost impossible for any serious investor to ignore the lure of attractive investment returns.
11. eCommerce Website
We live in a global marketplace where you can purchase any goods or services from anywhere in the world. If you understand some of the reasons why eCommerce businesses are failing in South Sudan, you can be able to establish a lucrative business by establishing an eCommerce Website.
Starting a successful eCommerce website is attributed to the low cost of building an online store and the decreasing cost of transactions when compared to the offline businesses known as traditional shops.
Imagine all the taxes you will have to pay when you set up a traditional shop, Ground rent, Waste Collection, stamp duty, renovation charge fee, etc.
So if you’re interested in setting up an online shop, find what you’re passionate about and focus on that area. For example, if you are passionate about selling gadgets and electronics online, you can set up an electronics shop.
The beauty that comes with it is that your client base is not limited to South Sudan alone, you can get clients from around the world provided you’re able to arrange for a cheap, reliable, and timely shipping service.
To set up an eCommerce store, hire a professional web developer if you can’t create one by yourself and start showcasing your products.
Examples of eCommerce shops you can establish include; online pharmacy, home appliances, online bar, online Boutique, and electronics and gadgets shops.
12. Food Delivery Business/Mobile Restaurant Business
People are constantly looking for affordable and quality food while on the go. If you can do deliveries to their home or office, they will get inclined to you and refer more people to your business.
And this eliminates the high cost of starting and maintaining a physical restaurant making it a more profitable business.
Within a couple of years, you will thank me for making you a millionaire with this business idea.
13. Money Lending Business
South Sudan has many problems and people are always looking for opportunities to get money and solve their problems.
Often time, individuals and small businesses find a hard time trying to secure loans from banks and other lending institutions in South Sudan. This is because of the high standards loan institutions set that most small business owners are likely not to meet.
So if you have funds that you can give out as a professional money lender, you can register your business and start lending personal loans, business loans to people. You will realize more profits in no time.
The only detriment of this business is the risks associated with it. However, the returns are great. It’s a sure way to become a millionaire in no time.
14. Business Consultancy
With so many entrepreneurs in South Sudan looking to launch their own businesses, they need advice from someone who has an upper hand in the business they are trying to establish especially if they have been there and done the business before.
If you fit in that category and have experience successfully starting and running a business, then you should definitely start your own business consultancy where you can provide those aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners with your knowledge and experience.
The amount you charge will solely depend on your sessions and how much worth, the value you’re providing.
15. Cleaning Business
South Sudan has a growing need for cleaning services for homes and offices. It doesn’t cost a lot to start a cleaning business. The monthly expenses are incredibly low and there is always a need for cleaning homes or offices.
In South Sudan, companies like J & J Cleaning, Lumaya Cleaning Company, Nedif Cleaning Services, Fresh Start Company LTD were started solely with the purpose of providing cleaning services to offices if not homes.
So this area is not yet saturated and you can make chunks of money if your services are reliable and efficient.
16. Employee Recruitment Service
Companies and employers in South Sudan are realizing that it costs them a great deal to hire new employees. So they want to retain top talent that fits their organization.
Did you know that the turnover for a salaried employee making $50,000 can cost a company between $25,000 to $40,000?
So instead of the companies or employers looking for the employees by themselves, they instead turn to recruitment agency also known as Staffing Agency or Employment Agency.
Therefore, if you register as a recruitment agency, these companies and organizations will be sourcing employees from you and the amount of money you can make will make you a millionaire even more.
17. Exporting and Importing
Since we stay in an increasingly global marketplace, an importing/exporting business can be extremely profitable and fair to start if you’re aware of the regulations and global markets.
South Sudan currently exports crude petroleum, gold, forage crops, sawn wood, and rough wood to countries like China, United Arab Emirates, the United States, India, and Spain.
If you master the craft, you can export/import anything from farm produce to clothing, etc. but you must put quality above anything else when dealing with the global markets.
18. Legal Services
South Sudan is full of uncertainties and there will always be a need for legal services. Legal Services include everything from lawyers, notaries, title search agents, and settlement officers.
Whether you’re planning on selling your car, leasing your property, buying off the land, or even releasing your neck from criminal offenses – you will always need legal services
People pay lofty sums of money to access these services and it can even be miraculous when you’re the business owner as operating costs will be typically low.
When you’re great at your job and you solve people’s problems all the time, you will always have a constant influx of recurring clients.
19. Franchise Ownership
One of the most underrated and profitable business ideas is that of a franchise. A franchise is a type of business that offers another person or business the right to sell goods or services using its name. It does that by providing the person or the other business with a license.
Unlike starting a business from scratch, you already possess a proven business with a unique and popular brand name with all the research and customer base inbuilt over years or even generations.
In South Sudan, the franchises I know include: BeForward & Chapkuru & Sons (Trust Japanese Vehicles)
Can you imagine how much money these companies make annually in South Sudan? Own a franchise and enjoy all the free royalties that come with it and you will be a millionaire in a few years.
20. Financial Services
In South Sudan, we have so many underserved positions served to unskilled or less educated people in the name of favors and bribes. They don’t take their jobs seriously and often lead institutions to financial ruins in the long run. In order to reduce such risks, businesses, organizations, and companies always outsource financial experts like auditors to understand their actual financial position.
So if you can provide financial services like bookkeeping, accounting, and tax preparations, your services will always be in high demand. The demand for these services remains constant even when the economy isn’t doing well.
So there is no doubt that financial services are likely to create millions.
Conclusion!
We know that starting a business in South Sudan is really a daunting task. But as an entrepreneur, you don’t have to win a lottery to make your dreams come to life. Take the risks and build a haven for the next generations to come.
Opinions in this article are based on exhaustive research and personal experiences.
I hope you like it and in case you have any feedback for me. Remit it in the Comment Section below. Kudos!
