Fact-check: Be aware the Ministry of Finance is not calling for grant applications

The Ministry of Finance has confirmed to 211 Check and cautioned online users that a Facebook page calling for grant applications is fake. Previously 211 Check warned of similar hoaxes targeting the netizens in South Sudan.

Writer: Ghai Aketch

Several fake calls for grant applications have been targeting unsuspecting South Sudanese lately in an attempt to collect important data or even exhort money.

This Facebook hoax purporting the Ministry of Finance shared on December 7 claims it is offering $350M as funding from international organisations geared towards agriculture and trade improvement in South Sudan. But that information is false.

“Applications are still ongoing following the grant worth $350M we received from the International Monetary Fund, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Global Entrepreneurship Network. This program is targeted to boost trade, investment and agriculture,” the false claim reads in part.

Additionally, the link directs applicants to a Google form to fill in their personal data.

211 Check called the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and looked at the digital platforms for USAID to find out if this call for grant applications is real or not:

We contacted Maal Maker, the Head of Media in the Ministry of Finance and Planning- South Sudan. However, in response to our  enquiry, he told 211 Check-in writing  that “this information is fake.” 

He shared the ministry’s official page used for official communications.  

We also checked the USAID South Sudanwebsite and social media accounts, Facebook and Twitter handle, but no grant application information is available.  

In  October this year 211 Check debunked a similar hoax offering the same amount, 350M dollars. But it was mimicking the  Ministry of Investment. The ministry later denied having a call for funding through its official Facebook page.

Additionally, in April,  211 Check warned online users of another scam of the same application requirements, which resurfaced online.

Conclusion:

211 Check concludes that the page calling for grant applications is a hoax. It was created on the same day, December 7, 2022, and sponsored the false call for applications. 

We noticed that this impostor page goes by the name Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, but the genuine page is named Ministry of Finance and Planning-South Sudan. The legitimate page does not have the word ‘Economic’ as part of its name.

This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.