From Cattle Camp to Code: Joe Mabor’s Junub Classifieds Wants to Bring South Sudan’s Marketplace Online

“After having lived and worked in Germany as a software engineer, I understand first-hand how technology can be used to empower businesses and people. With South Sudan lacking a reliable and affordable online marketplace, I resolved to build a platform that empowers people and businesses. Junub Classifieds was born as a trusted, reliable, affordable marketplace to buy, sell and connect across South Sudan,” explains Joseph Mabor Agany Manyiel, a South Sudanese software engineer based in Germany, who is launching Junub Classifieds, a digital marketplace for South Sudan’s emerging online economy on Thursday, 9 July 2026, to mark South Sudan’s 15th Independence Day anniversary.

By PaanLuel Wël, Brisbane, Australia

1. Introduction

On the eve of South Sudan’s 15th Independence Day anniversary, Joseph Mabor Agany Manyiel was not thinking about parades, presidential speeches or the familiar rituals of national celebration. Instead, Joe Mabor spoke with quiet confidence about a project that has been years in the making. He was thinking about the digital marketplace South Sudan still does not have. He was thinking about land advertised through family contacts, houses rented through brokers, cars sold through WhatsApp groups, jobs circulated on Facebook pages, businesses discovered by word of mouth, and diaspora families searching from Washington DC, London, Brisbane, Berlin or Toronto for someone trustworthy enough to help them buy, rent, hire or invest back home in South Sudan.

According to Joe Mabor, this scattered world of buying and selling is a manifestation of a young country whose commercial life has grown faster than the digital systems available to organise it. His answer is Junub Classifieds (junubclassifieds.com), a digital marketplace designed to connect buyers, sellers, businesses, job seekers, service providers, landlords, tenants, agents, vendors and ordinary citizens across South Sudan, East Africa and the South Sudanese diaspora. The Junub Classifieds is scheduled to be officially launched on Thursday, 9 July 2026, to mark the 15th anniversary of South Sudan’s independence. “Our mission is to build a trusted, simple and fast online marketplace that empowers local traders, businesses and buyers to connect, sell and buy with ease,” explains Joe Mabor, who works on Junub Classifieds in his free time as a hobby project.

Joe Mabor explains that the symbolism of the launch is deliberate and strategic, as independence is not only a matter of flag, anthem and political memory, but also about building a digital courtyard for South Sudanese commerce, one online place where people can buy, sell, advertise, rent, hire, search, connect and discover opportunities. Junub Classifieds is premised on the basic proposition that before South Sudan can fully embrace e-commerce, its people and businesses must first be able to find one another via a common digital marketplace where goods, services, opportunities and business information can be found in one searchable digital space.

2. Joe Mabor Agany Manyiel: The Founder Behind Junub Classifieds

Joseph Mabor Agany Manyiel, popularly known as Joe Mabor, hails from Rumbek in Lakes State, South Sudan. His personal journey reflects the story of many talented South Sudanese whose abilities have flourished when given access to education, technology and opportunity. Born into a cattle-keeping Dinka community, Joe Mabor’s educational journey took him from Rumbek to Kenya, Uganda and eventually Malaysia. He completed his primary schooling at Rumbek Comboni Primary School, began secondary school in Kenya (Form 1), continued Forms 2 and 3 in Uganda, and returned to Rumbek Secondary School in South Sudan for Senior 4 before proceeding to Malaysia for his bachelor’s degree. Joe Mabor was awarded a PETRONAS academic scholarship to study information technology, majoring in software engineering at the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, one of the respected technology universities in the region.

During his university years, Joe Mabor worked as a research assistant during the long holidays. In that role, he helped translate research concepts into working prototypes, an experience that significantly strengthened his programming skills and deepened his practical understanding of technology development. Joe Mabor also distinguished himself academically, and that academic distinction was publicly recognised at his 2021 bachelor’s graduation when he received the Best International Undergraduate Student Award, a striking moment in a personal journey that had begun far from the corridors of a Malaysian technology university and would later lead him into Germany’s software industry. His recognition as Best International Student was not based solely on academic performance, but on his overall student leadership, skills and participation in university life. Joe Mabor was highly active in extracurricular activities, including athletics, where his team won three gold medals in a running competition. He also served as Vice President of the South Sudanese Students Association in Malaysia and as Chairman of the South Sudanese Students Association at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS.

Even before Junub Classifieds, Joe Mabor had already begun thinking about technology as a tool for South Sudanese society. Around 2018 and 2019, while still in his second year at university, he created Waak211.com, an online music platform designed to preserve South Sudanese folk songs by uploading and making them accessible to listeners. Through Waak211.com, South Sudanese communities could upload, download and play traditional music in their own local languages. The Waak211 project was an act of cultural preservation, a recognition that old songs carry memory, identity, genealogy, history and belonging. That earlier project revealed a recurring theme in Joe Mabor’s technology work—his drive to take what was scattered, fragile or informal and give it structure online—with Waak211 focusing on culture and Junub Classifieds on commerce.

Joe Mabor’s final-year university project added another layer to that technical formation. At Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Joe Mabor worked on a research-and-development flagship thesis titled Multi-Population Genetic Algorithm for Rich Vehicle Routing Problem, or MPGA-RVRP, which was later published as a journal article and awarded the Silver Medal for the Most Innovative Final Year Project. The thesis project was both theoretical and practical. On the research side, it involved developing an algorithm capable of finding optimal solutions for the Rich Vehicle Routing Problem, a complex logistics challenge faced by companies that must manage deliveries, pickups, routes, customers, drivers, costs and schedules. On the development side, it required building a logistics-based software system to help companies manage, plan and schedule customer orders. The system then used the MPGA-RVRP algorithm to identify optimal routes so drivers could deliver or pick up customer orders at minimum cost.

That academic project matters in the story of Junub Classifieds because it shows that Joe Mabor’s technical background is not limited to ordinary web development, API development, system integration and standard software implementation but also extends into applied research, prototyping and the translation of ideas into functional digital systems. Long before launching a marketplace for South Sudan, he had already worked at the intersection of algorithms, logistics, route optimisation and real industrial needs. He had studied how technology can organise movement, reduce inefficiency and make fragmented systems more rational. In a different form, Junub Classifieds applies a similar logic to South Sudanese commerce as it seeks to optimise visibility, connection and discovery in a market where buyers, sellers, agents, businesses and job seekers are often scattered across informal networks.

While in his third year at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Joe Mabor received an internship opportunity in Germany. From 2018 to 2019, he undertook his internship in Aachen with IVU Traffic Technologies, where he worked on software and devices for public transportation systems, including train and bus ticketing systems and fleet-management solutions. After completing the internship, he returned to Malaysia to finish his university studies. Upon completing his degree, Joe Mabor received both a job offer in Germany at the end of August 2020 and an offer to pursue a master’s degree, but he chose to begin his professional career in the software industry. Thus, during the disruption of the COVID-19 period, that internship developed into a professional job opportunity in Germany, where Joe Mabor has since established himself in the country’s software industry.

Today, Joe Mabor works as a team lead in software development at CGM Deutschland AG, a leading technology company in Germany. He has over five years of professional experience as a software engineer and developer, specialising in web application design and development. At CGM Deutschland AG, Joe Mabor was promoted to Technical Lead for backend development, working with Python frameworks such as Django, FastAPI and Flask. He now serves both as Team Lead for Software Development, covering C++ desktop applications and backend systems, and as Technical Lead for Backend Development. He is also proficient in JavaScript, Java, server administration, Docker and other software development tools.

Beyond his corporate role, Joe Mabor has experience providing IT solutions for individuals, NGOs, government entities and small to medium-sized companies. His services include IT consultancy, WordPress development, web hosting, email hosting and broader digital solutions. He has also spoken at Scenius Hub in Juba on developing industry-ready software systems, a subject that now sits at the heart of his own entrepreneurial work.

This academic and professional background demonstrates that Junub Classifieds is being built by a South Sudanese software engineer who understands both the global digital economy and the local conditions of South Sudan. Joe Mabor’s edifying story epitomizes the fact that many skilled South Sudanese have built successful lives abroad in countries with stronger institutions, better infrastructure, and more predictable professional environments. Their success often reveals not a shortage of talent at home, but a shortage of enabling conditions in South Sudan. His journey from a cattle-camp to software engineering in Germany shows what South Sudanese ability can become when education, infrastructure and opportunity align. Junub Classifieds suggests that the success of the diaspora does not have to remain separate from the needs of home. The promise of digital infrastructure allows a citizen abroad to build something useful for a market at home, without waiting for perfect conditions.

3. Junub Classifieds: Joe Mabor’s Digital Marketplace for South Sudan’s Emerging Online Economy

When Joe Mabor talks about Junub Classifieds, he speaks like a builder who has been watching a market from a distance, waiting for the right moment to enter. In Joe Mabor’s view, South Sudan does not lack commerce; what it lacks is an organising digital courtyard where buyers, sellers, traders and businesses can meet, connect and transact with ease. Every day, millions of people across the country trade goods, offer services, seek employment, rent houses, buy land, sell vehicles, advertise businesses and look for opportunity. But they often do so without a reliable, accessible digital platform to connect them. A car may be advertised in one WhatsApp group, a rental property in another, a job opportunity on a Facebook page, a land offer through a broker, a business service by word of mouth.

The informal system depends heavily on trust, proximity and personal referral. That informality has advantages, as it is familiar, human and built on relationships. But it also creates inefficiency, as listings disappear quickly, information is hard to verify, buyers cannot easily compare options, sellers are limited by the reach of their networks, and diaspora users often rely on relatives, friends and intermediaries to discover opportunities. Junub Classifieds was built to address that real gap in South Sudan’s digital economy.

3.1. What is Junub Classifieds?

Junub Classifieds is a digital classified marketplace platform built to empower businesses, individuals and communities in South Sudan and beyond. Unlike full e-commerce platforms such as Amazon or Alibaba, where customers buy, pay and arrange delivery online, a classified platform is primarily about listing and connection. A seller posts an item, service, job or opportunity, and a buyer or interested person sees the listing and contacts the seller. The platform helps create visibility and connection, but the payment and final transaction may happen directly between the parties outside the platform.  

In this sense, Junub Classified follows the traditional classified advertising model, but brings it into the digital age. Historically, people placed classified ads in newspapers to sell cars, rent houses, advertise jobs, promote services or announce business opportunities. Junub Classified takes that old model and places it online, making it faster, wider, more searchable and more accessible. The platform allows people to list goods and services online so that interested buyers, clients or users can contact them directly.

Junub Classifieds was inspired partly by Joe Mabor’s own experience using successful online marketplace platforms abroad. While studying in Malaysia, he used Mudah, one of the country’s leading classified platforms, and later, while living and working in Germany, he used eBay. These platforms showed him how digital marketplaces can organise informal commerce, connect buyers and sellers, and make everyday transactions more visible and efficient. The success of similar platforms in African countries further validates the possibility of such a model working in South Sudan, including Jiji, which has become popular in Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya, and Jumia, which has grown into a major e-commerce platform in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya.

According to Joe Mabor, South Sudan has largely remained outside this digital marketplace revolution. While there are some limited platforms, such as Juba car marketplaces, the country does not yet have a broad, national, general-purpose classified marketplace covering land, housing, vehicles, electronics, jobs, services, business directories and professional listings in one place. This is the gap Junub Classifieds wants to fill. Joe Mabor believes South Sudan should not always wait for foreign platforms to define its digital future when South Sudanese developers and entrepreneurs can build local solutions that understand local realities. Junub Classifieds is therefore both a business platform and a statement of digital self-reliance. It is designed by a South Sudanese, for South Sudanese, while remaining open to the wider African market.

Joe Mabor envisions Junub Classifieds as a practical solution for South Sudan’s current stage of digital development. While full e-commerce may still be difficult in a country where online payments are limited and cash remains the dominant mode of transaction, classified advertising is more realistic. It is useful for used goods, affordable products, small businesses, land listings, vehicle sales, rental properties and informal services. Sellers can list items online, buyers can contact them, and the transaction can then be completed through direct communication and local payment methods. In other words, Junub Classified is a bridge between the traditional marketplace and the future of e-commerce.

This model is therefore suitable for South Sudan, where many people are already familiar with direct negotiation, cash payments and personal contact. Joe Mabor believes South Sudan is not yet fully ready for large-scale e-commerce, but it is ready for a strong classified marketplace. Over time, Junub Classified may introduce online payment features that would allow people to buy and sell more easily across towns such as Juba, Wau, Malakal and other parts of South Sudan, as well as between South Sudan, East Africa and the diaspora.

3.2. Junub Classified’s Business Model

The idea behind Junub Classified began during Joe Mabor’s university days in Malaysia. However, he delayed launching the project because he felt the digital environment in South Sudan was not yet ready. For many years, internet penetration was limited, digital habits were still developing, and the market lacked the conditions necessary for a national online marketplace. But Joe Mabor believes that situation is changing as more South Sudanese are now using smartphones, social media has expanded digital awareness, the diaspora is more connected to home, young people are looking for jobs online, vendors want customers beyond their immediate location, and ordinary citizens increasingly use digital channels to search for information.

The target market for Junub Classified is broad because the platform is designed to serve the general marketplace needs of South Sudanese society. The first users are likely to be individuals who want to sell used or new goods, landlords who want to advertise rental properties, buyers looking for land or houses, tenants searching for apartments, car dealers advertising vehicles, electronics sellers, service providers, job seekers, employers, small businesses, large vendors, agents and professional service providers. A person selling a vehicle in Juba could list it. A landlord in Wau could advertise a house. A business in Rumbek could promote its services. A job seeker in Bor could upload a CV. An employer in Panyagor could post vacancies. An agent in Malakal could advertise land, rentals or housing.

The platform will also serve as a business directory where businesses in South Sudan can register and make themselves visible to customers. Instead of relying only on word of mouth or scattered social media posts, businesses can have a more organised presence where customers can find them. Another important feature is the job and human resources component. Job seekers will be able to list their CVs, skills and profiles, while employers and organisations can advertise vacancies. In a country where many educated young people struggle to find opportunities, such a feature could help connect talent with employers.

The platform is also aimed at the South Sudanese diaspora living in Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, East Africa and the World who are deeply connected to South Sudan. They send remittances, buy land, build houses, support relatives, fund businesses and seek opportunities in South Sudan. A person in Washington DC, London, Brisbane, Berlin, Toronto, Nairobi or Kampala may want to buy land, rent property, support businesses, hire services, search for investment opportunities or connect with reliable agents and companies back home but the process can be opaque as their participation often depends on informal networks via relatives and friends.

In an early digital market, trust is the first currency, traffic comes second, revenue comes later. Joe Mabor works full time in Germany and does not view Junub Classifieds as a quick-money project. He describes it instead as a contribution to South Sudan’s digital infrastructure. For now, individual users will be able to use the platform for free as marketplace must first build participation. Sellers must list, buyers must search, businesses must register, job seekers must upload profiles, agents must bring inventory and users must develop the habit of checking the platform.

The platform’s revenue model is expected to develop through larger businesses, vendors and commercial users who may pay for premium features. These could include promoted listings, featured advertisements, enhanced business profiles, priority visibility and other add-on services. This model allows the platform to remain accessible to ordinary citizens while also developing a sustainable revenue structure through business users who benefit commercially from wider exposure.

In the end, Joe Mabor is betting that sellers want wider reach, buyers want convenience, job seekers want exposure, employers want talent, agents want clients, and the diaspora wants a clearer path back into the domestic market. He is also betting that South Sudan’s digital economy will not arrive fully formed. The platform’s success is not guaranteed, but it will depend on trust, moderation, user education, connectivity and persistence.

4. Conclusion: Why People Should Join Junub Classifieds

People should join Junub Classifieds because markets grow when people are connected. For sellers, the platform offers visibility. A person selling land, a car, a phone, furniture, electronics or household goods can reach more people than through word of mouth alone. A landlord can advertise property, a small business can introduce itself to customers, a service provider can be discovered, and a vendor can expand beyond a street corner or local contact list. For buyers, the platform offers convenience. Instead of searching randomly through scattered Facebook posts, WhatsApp groups or informal networks, buyers can go to one place and find what they need. They can compare options, contact sellers and make informed decisions.

For job seekers, Junub Classifieds can become a place to present skills and CVs. For employers, it can become a place to find talent. For agents, it can become a place to connect with clients. For the diaspora, it can become a bridge to opportunities back home. For South Sudanese businesses, the platform offers digital presence. In the modern world, a business that cannot be found online is already at a disadvantage. Junub Classifieds gives businesses a chance to be seen, contacted and trusted.

Joe Mabor is launching Junub Classified not simply as a business idea, but as a contribution to South Sudan’s digital future. The platform begins with classified listings, but its larger mission is to help organise the country’s emerging digital marketplace. South Sudan needs digital infrastructure built around its own realities, a platform that understand its people, its economy, its limitations and its possibilities. Junub Classifieds is one such platform. To sell, buy, rent, advertise, hire, search or connect, South Sudanese now have a new digital marketplace to explore.

Junub Classifieds also illustrates a deeper story about South Sudanese talent. Joe Mabor’s journey from a cattle-camp background to Malaysian university training and German software engineering shows what South Sudanese can achieve when given the right environment.  Many educated and skilled South Sudanese are doing remarkable work abroad because they are operating in environments that provide stability, infrastructure and opportunity. Junub Classifieds is one way of transferring some of that knowledge, discipline and technical capacity back into South Sudan’s development space.

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