* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
It's hard for outsiders to comprehend how basic life is in South Sudan
By Katy Migiro
NAIROBI (AlertNet) – "Will South Sudan make it?" is the question on many people’s lips as the region prepares to become the world's newest nation on Saturday.
"It can’t just be that you have a new national flag and you have a new national anthem,” said the World Bank's country director for Sudan, Ian Bannon, at a Nairobi press conference on his way to the July 9 celebrations.
"Once the celebration is over, the people of South Sudan will want to see that something in their lives has changed."
It’s hard for outsiders to comprehend how basic life is in South Sudan.
Consider these World Bank statistics:
- 1 percent of households have a bank account
- 47 percent of households have not touched money in the last seven days
- 15 percent of households own a phone
- 50 percent of people use firewood or grass for lighting; 27 percent have no lighting at all
- 80 percent of people do not have access to any kind of toilet
THE CNN EFFECT
In the short term, huge volumes of aid are likely to flood in due to “the CNN-effect”, Bannon said.
"When we see a country in the news, there’s a lot of interest. The capitals are interested in what their aid agencies can do," Bannon said.
For example, the children’s charity Plan International said it will spend $56 million on education and peace projects in the country over the next five years.
South Sudan has relied on humanitarian aid for the last three decades with aid agencies and church groups running most of its schools and health clinics.
With independence, more money will go to development projects, as donors try to help the young country shift out of crisis and start providing for its own citizens.
Most of the focus is likely to be on strengthening the government’s own health, education and water services.
But there is also the risk that fickle donor interest will fade as problems arise, robbing South Sudan of the long-term investment needed to overcome decades of civil war.
With seven militias already fighting the government, it’s easy to imagine what might go wrong.
Unlike many poor countries, South Sudan does not need to depend on aid thanks to its vast oil reserves, Bannon said.
"Money is not the issue. It’s a question of helping them to spend the money well, spend it on the right things," he said.
A BLESSING OR A CURSE?
An estimated 98 percent of government revenue comes from oil, making South Sudan the most oil dependent country in the world.
It may prove to be a blessing or a curse.
"We know that countries that are dependent on primary commodities, particularly oil, have tremendous governance problems," Bannon said. "When discovering oil, instead of becoming rich, you tend to become poor."
South Sudan urgently needs to diversify away from the black gold.
Agriculture is an obvious choice as it has plenty of lush, green land. On average, just 13 people live on each square kilometre of land, one tenth of the population density of neighbouring Uganda.
Roads are the big challenge for farmers. During the rainy season, they can’t move from one village to the next to get their products to market.
The United Nations uses helicopters but most South Sudanese don’t have the luxury of a bicycle let alone a chopper.
MILLION DOLLAR ROADS
Building roads in South Sudan is more expensive than virtually anywhere else in the world. It costs around $1 million per kilometre.
Everything has to be imported, from cement to sand.
Surprisingly, labour is often imported too. A lot of Kenyans and Ugandans do menial jobs, like digging roads, in South Sudan.
“When you have a country that's used to receiving humanitarian aid, it sort of undermines a little bit the work ethic,” said Bannon. “The wage has to be really high for you to accept a really tough job, which is working under the sun.” Kenyan and Ugandans are everywhere: running hotels, taxis, restaurants, banks and bars.
But critics should not be too quick to judge.
According to the World Development Report on Conflict and Fragility, it takes about a generation to create institutions – which lie at the heart of effective, developing states – after a war.
“Seventeen years is the fastest we’ve seen any country do it,” said Bannon.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
