A digital surge in Juba’s everyday trade
South Sudan is seeing a fast rise in mobile money, online commerce and digital payments, even as reliable Digital Public Infrastructure remains limited. Digital tools are increasingly central to banking, telecoms, health and humanitarian operations, but they often operate without a unified national framework.
At Konyo-konyo market in Juba, trader Mary Akol repeatedly refreshes her phone, waiting for a mobile money confirmation that does not arrive. With the transaction stuck mid-way, she asks the customer to return with cash. By evening, the sale is gone.
Mobile money expands, trust remains uneven
Similar disruptions are reported across urban markets, border towns and transport hubs. WhatsApp trading, Facebook Marketplace sales and informal digital remittances now underpin routine commerce, yet depend on networks that can be unreliable, unevenly distributed and vulnerable to outages and insecurity.
Despite these constraints, transaction volumes are rising and online sellers are multiplying, according to platform reporting cited in the text. Some users also rely on satellite internet services, including Starlink, where available, to stay connected in select rural and conflict-affected areas.
The paradox is that livelihoods are being built on systems many users say they do not fully trust. The digital economy is present and growing, but governance and infrastructure are not always keeping pace with daily reliance.
Fragile payment rails and the persistence of cash
The most consequential digital systems are often the ones already embedded in daily life. Telecom-run mobile money platforms function as a primary payment layer, handling large daily flows for many people who do not use bank accounts.
Agents and traders describe recurring network outages, system downtime and liquidity shortages. A mobile money agent in Bor summarised the experience: “Sometimes the system is working, but the network is not. Other times the network is there, but the money does not move.”
These interruptions can break the acceptance chain. When wholesalers and service providers refuse digital payments, retailers demand cash from customers, and users withdraw mobile money quickly. This cycle can weaken confidence in digital finance even while usage continues.
Banking interoperability efforts and confidence tests
The Bank of South Sudan launched an Inter-Bank Payment and Settlement System in October, described in the text as a major step toward interoperable payments. The platform is intended to enable instant transfers, bulk salary payments and electronic government transactions, reducing reliance on physical cash movement.
In practice, businesses report that integration is not uniform across banks, while outages and manual workarounds persist. The text also notes perceptions that some tax and revenue collection systems are controlled by individuals rather than being institutionally owned by the state, a concern that can affect trust.
Connectivity costs shape who can participate
Internet and data services are depicted as among the region’s most expensive, with sparse coverage outside major towns. Insecurity along transport corridors is reported to discourage telecom expansion, while conflict-driven displacement has concentrated populations in urban centres, reinforcing geographic inequality.
Starlink is presented as a partial workaround for some businesses, NGOs and media organisations. Yet its cost limits adoption among most households and traders, leaving digital commerce concentrated in areas with relatively better connectivity.
Health and humanitarian platforms as de facto DPI
The health and humanitarian sectors show a different operational pattern. The Ministry of Health, supported by WHO, UNICEF and partners, relies on digital health information systems to track outbreaks, service delivery and supply chains nationwide, and these platforms are described as operating continuously (WHO; UNICEF, as cited in the text).
Aid organisations also run biometric registration and digital cash transfer systems for large displaced populations. In many locations, these platforms are portrayed as among the most reliable digital systems people encounter, shaping access to assistance and services.
However, these systems are largely donor-driven and proprietary, and the text suggests they remain disconnected from national registries. This creates practical capability, but not necessarily nationally integrated digital public goods.
Digital public goods, standards and political risk
A recurring issue is that many core platforms are proprietary, closed-source and governed by private firms or external actors. Users often have limited visibility into data management, interoperability, or how long services will remain stable.
The text argues that limited open standards and interoperable registries can constrain innovation, particularly for local developers and small businesses. It also describes political risk through a history of information controls and connectivity disruptions during tensions, which can freeze payments and interrupt online trade.
Comparisons in the text point to other African experiences, including Kenya, Rwanda and Somalia, where nationally owned digital identity, interoperable payment rails and open standards are presented as core DPI components. The implication is that these choices can support private innovation while retaining public oversight.
National digital ID gap and the cost of fragmentation
The absence of a national digital ID is framed as a key gap. Biometric payroll systems, humanitarian registries and mobile money databases operate separately, limiting linkage across services and keeping systems as siloed projects rather than scalable infrastructure.
The economic costs described are immediate and cumulative: traders lose sales during outages, agents lose commission income, and online businesses face uncertainty that discourages investment. Over time, the text warns this fragility may deepen inequality as better-resourced actors secure private connectivity.
A cautious outlook for a growing digital marketplace
South Sudan’s digital economy is portrayed as real, expanding and resilient, powered by adaptation rather than coherent design. Its current strength lies in widespread use, but its vulnerability lies in fragility, fragmentation and uneven access.
The text suggests that investment in reliable connectivity, stronger public ownership, open standards and rights-based governance would help convert today’s patchwork into durable Digital Public Infrastructure and digital public goods. Until then, growth is likely to remain uneven and sensitive to disruptions.