The economy of South Sudan is around 4 Billion Dollar by gross domestic product. South Sudan is one of the most oil dependent economies in the world. 98% of government’s annual operating budget and 80% of its gross domestic product (GDP) derived from oil, despite being endowed with ample natural resources. It has a very fertile agricultural land and vast quantities of livestock. The livestock include over 60 million cattle, sheep and goats. Instability, unsatisfactory governance, and corruption continue to impede development in South Sudan.

South Sudan is one of the least developed countries with most cities in the country having no electricity or running water. The overall infrastructure is lacking, with only 10,000 km of paved roads.

South Sudan exports timber to the international market. Some of the states with the best known teak and natural trees for timber are Western Equatoria and Central Equatoria and some parts of Eastern Equatoria like magwi. There are teak plantations located at Kegulu.

One of the major natural resources of South Sudan is the River Nile whose many tributaries have sources in the country. The region also comprises many natural resources such as petroleum, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold in Kapoeta area of Eastern Equatoria, and hydropower. Like many other least-developed countries, the country’s economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Some of the agricultural items include cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), mangos, papaya, maize, simsim,bananas, sweet potatoes, and sesame.

Before independence, South Sudan produced 80% of Sudanese oil output. The oil revenues according to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), were to be divided evenly for the term of the agreement period. Since South Sudan leans on pipelines, refineries, and port facilities in Red Sea with the assistance of North Sudan, the agreement stated that the government in Khartoum would receive 50% share of all oil revenues. Oil revenues comprise more than 98% of the government of South Sudan’s budget according to the southern government’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. This has amounted to more than 8 billion US dollar in revenue since the signing of the peace agreement.

In recent years, notable amount of foreign-based oil drilling has started in South Sudan, raising the land’s geopolitical profile. Oil and other mineral resources can be found all over South Sudan. The area around Bentiu is specially known as being particularly rich in oil. During the autonomy years from 2005 to 2011, Khartoum partitioned much of Sudan into blocks, with more than 80% of the oil coming from the South.

South Sudan is affluent in agricultural land. It has one of the largest populations of pastoralists in the world. However, since 1999, when Sudan first initiated exporting oil, agricultural production in the country had fallen. According to the World Bank, the average annual growth rate of the agricultural sector between 2000 and 2008 was only 3.6 percent, which is numerously lower than the 10.8 percent growth rate of the previous decade. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) carried out an comprehensive satellite land cover survey that showed just 4.5 percent of the available land was under ploughing when South Sudan became independent.

South Sudan relies on food imports from neighboring countries, such as Uganda, Kenya and Sudan. These come at a high transportation expense which, coupled with inflation, has caused food prices to rise dramatically in South Sudan. The collapsing agricultural production and the dependency on expensive foreign food supplies have contributed to a severe food shortage in South Sudan. Around 2.7 million South Sudanese will need food aid in 2012 according to the United Nations’ food programme.

The government has commenced to address the issue of agriculture and food security. South Sudan hopes to enthrall agricultural investors from Middle Eastern Arab states, South Asia and fellow African countries in order to increase production of basic food items such as sugar, rice, cereals and oilseeds, livestock as well as cotton.

Foreign investment focused in the agricultural sector, where the government hopes to diversify the economy and provide jobs to the large numbers of unemployed. The FAO has also drawn up a $50 million Interim Assistance Plan (IAP) for the agricultural sector that will build capacity in ministerial and state agricultural extension offices. This plan includes the foundation of a seed production sector and an urban and peri-urban agriculture component.

Smallholder farming accounts for 80 percent of the country’s cereal production. Unfortunately, these farmers face a number of constraints, due to high transport costs, unavailability of agricultural inputs, and underdeveloped agricultural extension services. Instead of investing resources into developing the kind of agricultural extension services that could help smallholder production, however, the government has chosen to focus on large-scale, private sector-led industrial agricultural schemes as a way to boost food production.

The cost of living in South Sudan is $512 Dollar. It is 2 times less expensive than the world average. South Sudan ranked 183rd out of 197 countries by cost of living and the 194th best country to live in.

The average salary after taxes in South Sudan is 390 US Dollar. The amount is sufficient to cover living cost for 0.8 months. Living costs in South Sudan for locals and expats differ notably.

The Nilotic people of South Sudan, the Dinka, Anyuak, Bari, Acholi, Nuer, Shilluk, Kaligi and others, first entered South Sudan sometime before the tenth century, coinciding with the fall of medieval Nubia. From the 15th to the 19th century, tribal migrations, exceedingly from the area of Bahr el Ghazal, brought the Anyuak, Dinka, Nuer, and Shilluk to their modern positions in Bahr El Ghazal and the Upper Nile Region, while the Acholi and Bari settled in Equatoria. The Azande, Mundu, Avukaya and Baka, who came to South Sudan in the 16th century, established the region’s largest state of Equatoria Region.

The Azande have had good relations with their neighbours, namely the Moru, Mundu, Pojulu, Avukaya, Baka, and the small groups in Bahr el Ghazal, because of the expansionist policy of their king Gbudwe, in the 18th century. In the 19th century, the Azande fought the French, the Belgians and the Mahdists to maintain their independence. Egypt, under the rule of Khedive Ismail Pasha, first exerted to control the region in the 1870s, establishing the province of Equatoria in the southern portion.

The Mahdist Revolt of the 1880s destabilized the nascent province. Equatoria ceased to exist as an Egyptian encampment in 1889. Significant settlements in Equatoria included Lado, Gondokoro, Dufile, and Wadelai. European colonial manoeuvrings in the region came to a head in 1898, when the Fashoda Incident occurred at present-day Kodok.

Britain and France almost went to war over the region. Britain then treated South Sudan as a distinct entity with a different stage of development than the North. This policy was legalized in 1930 by the announcement of the Southern Policy. In 1946, without consulting Southern opinion, the British administration reversed its Southern Policy and began instead to implement a policy of uniting the North and the South.

British colonial policy in Sudan had a long history of emphasizing the development of the Arab north and largely ignoring the Black African south, which lacked schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, and other basic infrastructure. After Sudan’s first independent elections in 1958, the continued neglect of the southern region by the Khartoum government led to uprisings, revolts, and the longest civil war on the continent. People affected by the waywardness included the Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Anyuak, Murle, Bari, Mundari, Baka, Balanda Bviri, Boya, Didinga, Jiye, Kakwa, Kaligi, Kuku, Lotuka, Nilotic, Toposa, and Zande.

The region has been negatively affected by two civil wars since Sudanese independence. From 1955 to 1972, the Sudanese government fought the Anya-Nya rebel army (Anya-Nya is a term in the Madi language which means snake venom) during the First Sudanese Civil War. Followed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) in the Second Sudanese Civil War for over twenty years, from 1983 to 2005. As a result, the country suffered serious neglect, a lack of infrastructure development, and major destruction and displacement. Nearly 3 million people have been killed, and millions more have become refugees both within and outside the country.

South Sudan is a developing country with a fragile economy that has been affected by decades of conflict and instability. However, despite these challenges, there are many opportunities for businesses to flourish in South Sudan. A variety of sectors that have the potential to be profitable in South Sudan are agriculture, oil and gas, construction, telecommunications, and trade and distribution.

Starting a business in South Sudan can be challenging owing to the country’s brittle economic and political condition. However, with careful planning and a solid understanding of the local market, it is possible to find success in South Sudan. Many individuals, firms and companies see the idea that industrial farming is the key to improve food security in South Sudan. Therefore, the country is marketing its resources and attract private capital in key sectors, including agriculture.

This investment is intended to stimulate rural development and generate employment opportunities, increase food productivity, provide government institutions with new and sustainable sources of revenue, and help to diversify the economy. There is some concern, however, that a small transnational elite will benefit at the expense of the rural poor if the country’s arable land is used to grow food for foreign populations, while simultaneously pushing communities onto increasingly marginal lands. This could create the potential for more food insecurity, instability, social unrest and conflict.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, making it the most recent sovereign state or country. Between 9 and 15 January 2011, as a consequence of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a referendum was held to determine whether South Sudan should become an independent country, separate from Sudan.

In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and 10 others of exerting a coup d’etat. Machar denied trying to start a coup and fled to lead the SPLM–in opposition of (SPLM-IO). Velitation occurred between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and SPLM-IO, igniting the civil war. Ugandan troops were deployed to fight alongside the South Sudanese government. The United Nations has peacekeepers in the country as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).