South Sudan looks up to December elections for stability, economic resilience

(Photo Credit: Citizen Digital)  

2025 marked 15 years since South Sudan gained independence, becoming the world’s youngest nation. 

The country that endured 38 years of war has been on a journey to rebuild its resilience, looking up to peace, political stability, tourism, and other economic practices. 

In an interview with Citizen TV’s Jeff Koinange on July 22, President Salva Kiir said South Sudan is prepared to host its first national election. 

“The people would want to elect their leaders so as to get out of this transition. The people think the transition [government] is not good for them,” said South Sudan President. 

Currently, South Sudan has five Vice Presidents, in line with the 2018 revitalized peace agreement that established a unique power-sharing executive model. 

This, President Kiir says, worked when the country needed to make compromises for the sake of peace and stability. 

However, the framework left South Sudan with a bloated legislature. The country now looks towards the December 2026 elections to amend its transitional framework by downsizing the legislature to free up state funds for public development. 

Africano Mande Gedima, the Minister of Presidential Affairs in South Sudan, also notes that the country is prepared for the shift from a transitional government to an elected one. 

“The transitional government has outlived its purpose, because it was coined on the basis of transition. We are preparing for an election, and we believe that we will be able to transit,” Mande told Citizen TV. 

The minister noted that the transition government came with mixed feelings for South Sudan. 

“That created a challenge in terms of resources. And the government was too heavy to move forward because of different interests and visions,” added Mande. 

While it came with a burden of a bloated legislature, it also created peace and stability for the country that had suffered the brunt of war. 

“War gives meaning to politics; we were fighting for a purpose,” he adds. 

“The quest and the vision that we had kept us going. The centre of government did not collapse.” 

The minister added that the December election would guarantee South Sudanese citizens service delivery, stability and other good intentions. 

On the economic front, oil-rich South Sudan is heavily dependent on petroleum for roughly 90% to 95% of its exports and 70% to 90% of its total government revenue. 

However, the country is now pursuing other economic opportunities, opening its borders to foreign investors.

"The potential is there, but we need more stability, and we need more investors so that we can have this production to happen,” Emmanuel Athiei Ayual, the Managing Director and CEO of the Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet), told Citizen TV’s Jeff Koinange in an interview at Sudan’s capital Juba. 

Mande warned that South Sudan’s reality is sometimes covered in shrouded narratives that are not true.  

“For the investors out there, I believe they should not pay attention to the kind of narratives that they see,” said Mande. 

The world’s youngest country also places its compass on tourism, as a source of economic resilience. 

In July 2026, South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape was recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

This is due to its value as the planet's largest intact ecosystem, which supports the largest terrestrial mammal migration.

Source: https://citizen.digital/article/south-sudan-looks-up-to-december-elections-for-stability-economic-resilience-n387478