One-year-old child knows that we have economic crisis, as the usual “Alawa”, Daddy and Mammy used to bring home has halted, but unaware of the cause of the diminishing bulge of the parents’ pocket size.
Many might point fingers to the central bank, on the basis of its role to control currency outflow, including foreign exchange and so forth, but under broader spectrum, the economy of a country depends on various factors, one paramount is security and transparency.
As a priority, South Sudan needs to intensify efforts to address the underlying causes of conflict and to restore peace and stability to provide a strong basis for economic recovery and sustainable growth.
The government should maintain commitment to economic and public finance management reforms to stabilize the economy, to ensure the efficient use of public funds, and to build credibility with the public and development partners.
There is also a need to improve budgeting and allocation of resources for service delivery to support improving living standards and broad-based economic recovery.
Our government should adopt a multifaceted approach to address food insecurity that recognizes that the stabilization of smallholder agriculture will require public safety to enable the voluntary return of IDPs and refugees.
Agriculture fosters economic growth, reduces poverty, and improves food security but for the citizens to realize this in the South Sudan, peaceful atmosphere is a pre-request.
Smallholder farmers in South Sudan are faced with challenging issues including insecurity, lack of electricity, flooding, and poor infrastructure, especially a lack of passable roads, the economic situation, and droughts.
Though South Sudan has lots of economical potentials, consisting of tourism, subsistence farming, livestock rearing, fishing, forestry and even wild food collection, the “unknown gunmen”, threaten the development and realization of these benefits, instead rendering us to rely only on oil.
It’s also the absence of peace, which has impaired development of domestic industries that would in turn open employment opportunities for the youth.
Establishing domestic productions in agriculture comes with value addition chains and exportation of surplus to bring in foreign currency, whereas industrial development would limit hard currency outflow to importation of machinery and other equipment.
Gaps and leakages, for instance, illicit exploitation of natural resources by unscrupulous individuals, read “illicit exportation of about 100,000 tons of South Sudanese teak worthy over $30.5 million from January 2018 to March 2019” in graft report Washington-based research group. Least reported is also illegal exploitation of fish, wildlife and mineral resources in the country, a practice being conducted under cover and protection of “unknown gunmen”.
Leveraged upon peace, is economic growth of a nation, with all the marvels of better living standards of citizens. As such, it’s a prerogative of our political leaders to cultivate, embrace and implement the roadmap for realization of peace, unity and development.
God Bless South Sudan.