A BROKEN CURRENCY JOINS BROKEN AGREEMENTS IN A BROKEN COUNTRY
(Posted 16th December 2015)
Two years of civil war, almost to the day, have left South Sudan’s civil society torn apart and the economy in utter ruins.
Peace agreement after peace agreement was broken, with the latest outbreak of fighting in the southern town of Yambio, located between the Ugandan and Congolese borders, only another anecdote albeit a deadly one for the latest victims of an endless spiral of violence. Regime leader Salva Kiir two years set the ball of violence rolling when he accused his erstwhile deputy Dr. Riek Machar of having plotted a coup, something which later on was found to be a work of fiction, aimed to justify a broad assault on South Sudan’s second most important tribe.
As a result has oil production, which prior to independence in the years of self-governance, almost reach half a million barrels a day, dwindled to a mere trickle, then aggravated when the global oil prices fell to below 50 US Dollars a barrel.
Changing control of the oil fields led to a further decline of government revenue, in a country where little other sources of export revenues are generated.
A once promising tourism sector got destroyed in the process of the fighting too and reports about widespread poaching are common, for both trophies and meat from both sides in the conflict.
The great migration of tiang antelopes, white eared kob and mongalla gazelles which in a country at peace could draw in hundreds of thousands of tourist visitors a year, now goes entirely unnoticed as not even the most daring of adventurers will risk being caught up in a shootout of opposing forces or being robbed by soldiers who have gone for month without pay.
The lack of tourist AND oil dollars has now finally led to an admission by the regime that their artificial exchange rate of 2.95 South Sudan Pounds to the US Dollar could no longer be sustained, more so as regime sycophants and cronies with access to hard currency made handsome profits of buying dollars at the official rate and then selling them for often more than five times the value, pocketing the balance.
A terse statement released by the Central Bank of South Sudan informed the public that with immediate effect ‘Foreign Exchange business shall now be conducted at the market determined exchange rate’, a move which aligned the South Sudan Pound with the black market rate.
Hardest hit will be ordinary people who, if at all they earn a wage, those will remain static while inflation triggered by the effective devaluation of the South Sudanese Pound, will begin to run away.
Travel to South Sudan, the capital Juba is connected with daily flights from Nairobi by Kenya Airways and from Entebbe and Kigali by RwandAir, is also subject to further barriers as Visa need to be applied for in advance while a range of other regulations, including the need to get a permit for cameras to take photos has seen even regional adventure tour operators turn their back on the country, telling them effectively to get their act together or not stand a chance to be admitted into the East African Community as a result of extensive private sector objections. It was a similar currency crisis which saw Kenya’s Jetlink collapse after the regime refused them to repatriate their proceeds from ticket sales, eventually running out of cash to pay for fuel, regulatory charges, aircraft leases, maintenance, insurance and overheads.
‘Maybe some of them now remember their unspeakable arrogance towards us who gave them refuge when they were at war with Khartoum’ quipped a regular Kenyan aviation source when asked how he saw the currency collapse. ‘They treated our traders badly, often failed to pay for invoices, harassed our people in Juba and then thought this was entirely normal. Well it was not normal. They failed to show gratitude and appreciation and their hardship now may perhaps remind them of behaving better in the future towards those who showed them friendship. Join East African Community? Not anytime soon I think because let them first sort themselves out and then harmonize. How long did Rwanda have to wait over these harmonization issues. There should be no special treatment for South Sudan, same rule for all’
While South Sudan has been a founder member of the NCIP, short for Northern Corridor Integration Projects, group of countries which include Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya – Ethiopia is set to join at the next Summit in Kampala – has South Sudan played no significant role in embracing such crucial issues like the common tourist Visa and only signed up to the aviation pact in the absence of any significant local leave alone national airline.
One Response
Mr. Wolfgang,
You are one of the most honest European or the American if you are; who often honestly report on what is happening in South Sudan accurately, with the Australians people. The evil corporate America, the UK and their evil juus, have already taken over the propaganda war machine in South Sudan, not only in South Sudan to be honest. But the whole of US, Europe except, the German Der spiegel, the Australia, Sydney morning herald (SMH) and the UK, the Australia Guardian.
But the Guardian, is on the way to go corporate and propaganda very soon. But these papers, are still the only papers that have integrity on the what is the ‘word’ objective journalism in the English speaking world is for.
But to be honest, the evil cooperate America, the Europe and their evil juus would want don’t believed every rubbish the evil corporate America, the UK, and their evil juus media propaganda spew out on the South Sudan and the South Sudanese people their bull-craps, be warned fellows. We are going to bomb the evils.
And still, they think, South Sudanese people are their lots of sheeple that they can bully around. Like their usual countries in their people; in the Middle Eastern countries; the West and central African countries—-the US, the UK and the UN have mis-read the South Sudanese people. We are going to bomb the evils—-the mighty US, the English people and their South African Dutchmen; evil white Americans, English men, your so-called UN mercenaries and your evil juus attack dogs and some criminals in-between, we are going to bomb you. I will repeat again.
We are back, Mr. Wolfgang.