South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dismissed Finance Minister Marial Dongrin Ater and reappointed Athian Ding Athian, state radio said late on Thursday, marking the seventh change of finance chief since 2020.
No reason was given for Ater’s removal. Athian, who previously held the portfolio from 2020 to 2021, will return to the job, the broadcaster said. Kiir also fired the minister for investment.
Africa’s youngest nation has struggled with repeated cabinet churn, communal violence and shrinking crude revenues since a 2013–2018 civil war. Exports have also been disrupted by the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
The International Monetary Fund projects South Sudan’s economy will contract 4.3% in 2025, with inflation at 65.7%.
Kiir has led the country since independence in 2011. In March, First Vice President Riek Machar was placed under house arrest — a move the government said followed his attempts to “agitate” supporters and derail elections. Machar’s party denies the allegations.
