Despite the high hopes of the nearly 99% of electors who voted for secession in the 2011 referendum, few outsiders expected South Sudan’s transition to Independence to go smoothly. Some – including many journalists – sourly predicted the world’s ‘first pre-failed state’. However, the prospect of a substantial ‘peace dividend’, with development driven by oil exports and substantial post-war reconstruction assistance, held out the promise of a better future for its war-ravaged and poverty-stricken people. A year later, this promise has clearly not materialised.
At Independence in July 2011, South Sudan had an estimated per capita gross domestic product of over US$1,500, almost twice that of Kenya. The government’s 2011 budget was $2.3 bi...
