![Ethiopian ambassador to South Sudan Nebil Mahdi speaks during celebrations ahead of the 11th independence of South Sudan on July 9th in Juba on Tuesday, 5th July 2022 [Photo by Sudans Post]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/IMG_0160.jpg?ssl=1)
Ambassador Mahdi made the revelation on Tuesday during a celebrations organized by the Ethiopian embassy in Juba ahead of the 11th independence of South Sudan on July 9th.
“It is high time for us to focus on the inevitable journey of a robust economic integration. The time has come to give us a better chance to our youth through pooling our comparative advantages to common growth and development,” Mahdi said.
Mahdi stressed the need for the two countries to extend engagement toward economic and people-to-people relations.
“We should seriously start to look into for instance how huge South Sudan’s potential feed the bourgeoning and energy hungry Ethiopian economy,” Mahdi explained.
Mahdi noted the need to push for the realization of the electrification project in a bid to boost the economy between the two sisterly countries.
“We have to push forward the already started joint electrification project that was signed a couple of months ago. This one example of cooperation in the energy sector will speak volumes about our untapped potential for economic integration,” he said.
In May 2022, South Sudan agreed on MoU with the state-owned power utility Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) of Ethiopia.
The deal which is not yet operational will see Ethiopia supply 100 Mega Watts of power to South Sudan over three years.
In the years ahead Juba would later import 400 MW of electricity from Ethiopia.
He said investing in the energy sector will contribute enormously to the economic growth of the two countries.
“Investing in these sectors alone will contribute enormously to the overall economic growth of the two countries by providing cheap and reliable energy,” he said.
