AP Photo

There may be only 50 kilometres of paved road in all of Southern Sudan, a region the size of Texas, but the lack of infrastructure has done little to slow down the new nation's auto business.

Drani Moses Juma, a Ugandan man from Kampala, runs what he calls the "car dealers association" in the Southern Sudanese capital, a group of some 200 men – most of them fellow Ugandans – who import cars into Juba.

The cars are not new but "reconditioned" – a generous euphemism, considering some of the well-worn inventory in Juma's dusty lot. Business is good, though, with hundreds of cars sold each month to a mix of Sudanese and international customers. Taxes are reasonable – two per cent – and the government does not exactly enforce emissions standards or safety...