Microfinance in South Sudan November 18, 2009

Host: Hudson Institute. Join us for a discussion with Rev. Thomas Anei, a priest in the Episcopal Church of Sudan. Twenty years of war devastated South Sudan and shattered its economic infrastructure. While Sudan’s oil is found mostly in southern fields, oil revenues have not yet led to development or jobs in South Sudan. A referendum on secession, scheduled for 2011 under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war, lends urgency to the need to find solutions to South Sudan’s continuing state of humanitarian crisis. To shed light on one hopeful model, Rev. Anei will discuss his success in establishing microfinance in the southern village of Lietnhom. With Five Talents International, a Christian nonprofit organization specializing in microfinance, Rev. Anei helped set up South Sudan’s first community-owned village bank and provides training for local residents to start and manage small businesses. The bank now claims over 500 members.