Research and consulting in South Sudan

Country Overview:

IOA has engaged in the growth of South Sudan since the country’s birth, by engaging in consulting and undertaking research to understand today’s trends through key developments. IOA analysts have documented how the young nation was nearly stillborn as ambitious politicians highjacked government and continue a civil war on various levels. South Sudan epitomises the “resource course”, whereby a nation’s people are excluded from profiting from national resources but have their lives made dangerous and miserable as fighting over those resources brings humanitarian crises.

The country has a single item economy – oil – while four-fifths of the people scratch out existences as subsistence farmers and herders. However, the country has agricultural land and other resources that can be successfully exploited with investment and vision. The Horn of Africa is extremely vulnerable to global warming weather disasters, which have plagued South Sudan in the form of droughts, floods and locust swarms.

Key opportunities in South Sudan:

Agriculture has the potential to end current food shortages and produce export products
South Sudan has established trade links with markets both African and overseas
Massive investment in education, healthcare and infrastructure will translate into wide-spread opportunities, once national stability is achieved

Key concerns/risks in South Sudan:

The country is in the midst of the worst humanitarian crisis in its brief history
Armed conflict, corruption and political instability characterise governance
Global warming has brought a host of climate-related disasters and is set to worsen