The country’s labour ministry announced that permit to engage in professional services like setting up a hospital, law firm or advisory services will cost Sh1,020,000 million.
At the South Sudan Embassy in Nairobi, officials declined to comment on the charges saying they needed clarification from Juba.
Kenya Bankers Association chief executive Habil Olaka said the move would add an additional cost on banks and create unconducive business environment for firms in Juba.
South Sudan has remained tight-lipped on the fate of Kenyans and other East Africans working in its territory, five days after it introduced prohibitive work permit charges to lock foreigners out of its labour market.
On Thursday, the country’s labour ministry announced that permit to engage in professional services like setting up a hospital, law firm or advisory services will cost Sh1,020,000 million ($10,000).
White collar jobs also attract the same amount of fees per person.
Cost of permit to engage in blue collar jobs goes up to Sh204,000 while casual workers now have to part with Sh102,000 to remain in South Sudan.
Having joined the East African Community’s common market last year, South Sudan has an option to exempt the bloc’s citizens from the stringent work permit rules.
It could also go the Tanzania way to retain the work permit fees but at reduced cost to EAC nationals. Tanzania, for instance charges East Africans $500 for work permit, just a quarter of the $2,000 it collects from other foreigner categories.
At the South Sudan Embassy in Nairobi, officials declined to comment on the charges saying they needed clarification from Juba.
The acting chairman of Kenyans working in South Sudan Anthony Kanyi however said the move would hurt formal sector employees. “It is going to be difficult for Kenyans working here as they will have to part with a lot of money to secure the work permits,” said Mr Kanyi.
Mr Kanyi wants Nairobi and Juba to discuss the increment saying it was an impediment to those who want to work in South Sudan. The new fees is seen as Juba’s first step in a long held plan to crack down o foreign nationals who have trooped to the troubled nation since it attained its independence from Sudan in 2011.
A number of long distance truckers regard the country as their second home. Key logistics firms such as Kenya Airways and Fly540 have also stationed their staff to manage operations in South Sudan.
Other firms likely to be affected include KCB Group, Equity Bank and Co-operative Bank which have posted Kenyans to run their subsidiaries in South Sudan. Others are UAP Insurance, East African Breweries and CFC Stanbic Bank.
Kenya Bankers Association chief executive Habil Olaka said the move would add an additional cost on banks and create unconducive business environment for firms in Juba.
Mr Olaka saidKenyan businesses need staff from home to replicate what is done at the headquarters and that it was difficult for them to get this work force in the host country.
He noted that the banks in Juba were just settling after years of conflict that destabilised their businesses and that any unfriendly business environment would impact negatively on their activities.
“Additional cost such as the increase in work permit will just compound the problems that foreign businesses in Juba have been facing following years of unrest in South Sudan,’ said Mr Olaka.
The firms have previously suffered losses in the military clashes which erupted after President Salva Kiir fell out with his former deputy, Dr President Riek Machar.
The firms joined the government in airlifting their workers to Nairobi.
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