Middle East & Africa | When the oil stops

South Sudan’s economic crisis threatens its fragile peace

It shows what happens when a petrostate’s lifeline disappears overnight

Flooding in Bentiu, South Sudan
Photograph: Panos
|Juba

SOUTH SUDAN could have been off to a good start. Thanks to its oil riches, the world’s youngest country qualified as a middle-income one when it got independence from Sudan in 2011. The new country also had minerals, livestock and timber for export. As it was near the bottom of most global development indices on health and education, it received more aid per person than almost anywhere else on earth.

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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “When the oil stops”

From the December 21st 2024 edition

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