Posted on March, 30, 2022 at 09:14 am
South Sudan’s Livestock and Fisheries minister, Anyoti Adigo has decried the impact of war on the economy, urging donors and development partners to support food production in the country.
He was speaking at an event to launch a joint report prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations and the World Bank.
“It was a very important opportunity. It brought three of us from the key ministries and the partners. The discussion centered around ideas exploring how our partners could work with the line ministries and institutions to address the issue of food security. We explored ideas looking at how we should transform humanitarian aid to agricultural development supports in the country,” Adigo told Sudan Tribune at the sidelines of the meeting.
He added, “Everyone appreciated and we all encouraged all the international partners to think along this line and start working with the line ministries and start moving away from humanitarian programs to more sustainable programs like the support for agricultural sector development”.
The minister said war had ravaged the economy and it was time to coalesce efforts and work together with partners to ensure the economy improves, through support to the agricultural sectors and other institutions.
He appealed for support to the agricultural sector in order to improve the economic situation after Business Insider Africa listed South Sudan among countries with the highest debt-to-gross domestic product ratio in Africa.
South Sudan, the report says, has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 64.4% as of 2022.
The debt-to-GDP ratio is the metric comparing a country’s public debt to its gross domestic product. The Business Insider says by comparing what a country owes with what it produces, the debt-to-GDP ratio reliably indicates that particular country’s ability to pay back its debts. Some of the notable names on the list of countries with the highest debt-to-GDP ratio include Ghana with 82.3%, Kenya with 69.7%, Rwanda with 74.8%, and South Africa with a ratio of 68.8%.
Other countries on the list include the Republic of Congo with 85.4%, Eretria with 175.1%, Cab Verde 160.7%, Mozambique 133.6%, and Angola with 103.7% among others.
A recent report by the World Bank showed more than half of the world’s low-income countries, most of which are in Africa, are either currently struggling with debt distress or at risk of doing so. The World Bank highlighted three facts that should prompt everyone to get serious with this debt issue.
It says 40% of low-income countries have not published any sovereign debt data for more than two years, and many of those that have published data tend to limit the information to central-government debt and standard debt instruments.
It further says huge discrepancies exist today in publicly available estimates of debt in low-income economies. The international financial institution says 15 low-income countries today have debt that is collateralized by natural resources—yet none provide details on the collateral arrangements.
The World Bank then stressed that greater debt transparency makes it easier for governments to make informed decisions about future borrowings.
In the same vein, it makes it easier for the citizens to hold their leaders accountable for the loans borrowed. It said debt transparency helps lenders to assess and determine whether a country’s existing debt stock is sustainable or not and also helps them to efficiently facilitate a debt restructuring process.
Also, Standard Bank Group recently red-flagged Ghana, Kenya Ethiopia, Zambia, and Angola as African countries that could soon experience serious debt risks.
Although exact figures of these countries’ public debts were not disclosed, Business Insider Africa recommends that countries should take serious issues of debt.
Despite the huge agricultural potential that South Sudan possesses, only about percent of the country’s arable land is reportedly being utilised.
Source: Sudan Tribune