The Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of South Sudan on Thursday said the people of South Sudan have not benefited from the proceeds from crude oil which is the country’s largest export.
Ambassador Timo Olkkonen who is the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to South Sudan was speaking in Juba at a ceremony to mark European Day and qualified South Sudan as a textbook example of a resource curse.
He said fossil-based technology is old fashioned as modern and more environmentally friendly ways to produce energy exist, and that if left unaddressed, continued fossil fuel usage will possibly contribute to our extinction as a species with climate change taking effect.
“That is not to say that we should not appreciate the role of oil in South Sudan. You would be blind not to understand its importance. But South Sudan is a textbook example of a resource curse, where the profits from oil have not benefited the people at large and they have been largely wasted and misused,” Amb. Olkkonen stated. “Tragically, many of the renewable and sustainable resources the country has on the other hand have been neglected over the past decades. I am thinking particularly of the agricultural potential and the amazing biodiversity of the country.”
He added: “It is said that every crisis is an opportunity, so perhaps the recent issues with oil exports could redirect focus on these other cleaner engines of economic growth and you cannot argue that the potential is not there.”
The EU envoy said they recently joined several members of the international community in calling on the government not to tax aid and welcomed South Sudan’s removal of taxes on humanitarian aid and exemption of UN agencies from taxes.
“I welcome the fact that the government has confirmed that this indeed is not the intention and I cannot emphasize enough but what matters is implementation,” Olkkonen said. “Anything short of that would be a disaster for the people of South Sudan and cause reputational damage to the country itself.”
On the peace process, the envoy said the enthusiasm for the conduct of general elections in South Sudan has subsided as parties to the agreement have missed key timelines during the implementation of the peace accord.
“I was enthusiastic about the prospect of engaging in and supporting the preparations for elections and a new constitution. We have been supporting those processes politically and also through our development cooperation. Indeed a new project on electoral support was launched last August,” Amb. Olkkonen said. “I have to confess however that that enthusiasm has since subsided. Over the past year, we witnessed deadline after deadline of the Peace agreement’s Roadmap being missed. A month ago, we read the assessment of the UN Secretary General of the level of preparedness of the country to hold elections concluding that the parties must commit to taking urgent steps to achieve a critical mass of implementation necessary for the peaceful conduct of free, fair, and credible elections.”
He said despite disappointments, he still thinks the prospects of a first permanent constitution and the first elections of an independent country are of the kind that should evoke patriotism and enthusiasm.
“We hope that the ongoing processes like the UNMISS-supported interparty dialogue or the Kenyan mediation efforts will very soon bear fruits in this regard and that the stakeholders come together to forge a consensus” Olkkonen stated.
For his part, South Sudan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ambassador Monday Suraya Kumba said the country is satisfied with the bilateral ties between the EU and its member states in many developmental and economic sectors.
“We are also looking forward to engaging with the European Union and member states in other areas such development of the mineral sector, development of agriculture sector, development of the industrial sector, capacity building and climate change among others,” he said. “I would like to reassure you of our commitment as a government to continue meeting the needs of our people, to continue engaging different partners to the upcoming engagement political economic engagement in the country which includes the upcoming elections.”
“We are looking forward to working closely with the EU to gain support to achieve this overall objective,” Amb. Kumba added.