Paving the Future: A Strategic Transport Agenda to Rebuild South Sudan’s Economy

A comprehensive 2025 World Bank report presents a compelling vision for lifting South Sudan out of protracted fragility through a targeted overhaul of its transport and logistics infrastructure. Prepared in collaboration with institutions such as Stellenbosch University, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the South Sudan Roads Authority, the report blends data-driven analysis with grounded policy recommendations. The findings point to a stark reality: South Sudan’s broken transport networks are among the worst in the world. Roads become impassable during rains, freight costs are astronomical at $0.20 per ton-km, and average truck speeds fall below 7 km/h. Yet amid these harsh conditions lies the opportunity to transform the economy and reduce humanitarian dependency.

Agriculture Over Oil: The Real Engine for Growth

Though oil contributes over 90% of the government’s revenue, the report warns of declining production and volatile export routes, particularly in the wake of conflict in Sudan and fragilities along the Port Sudan pipeline. Meanwhile, agriculture, which employs more than 60% of South Sudan’s people, remains critically underdeveloped. The country has vast arable land and abundant fish and livestock resources, but poor transport systems lead to post-harvest losses as high as 70%, with perishable goods rotting before they reach markets. Fish from the Sudd swamps, for instance, is highly sought after in regional markets, but logistical constraints mean most of it never leaves the country. Similarly, sorghum, maize, and sesame hold strong export potential but fail to reach regional ports due to poor road and river connectivity. With improved infrastructure, South Sudan could meet domestic demand, reduce imports, and emerge as a regional supplier of food commodities.

Corridor Strategy: Building Roads That Matter

Rather than pursuing a scattershot approach, the World Bank recommends a corridor-focused strategy that channels investment into infrastructure with the highest development payoff. Seven domestic corridors and four regional corridors are identified as priority projects. These include roads such as Wau–Raja–Boro–Medina (360 km), Adok–Leer–Bentiu (230 km), and Juba–Kajo Keji–Jale (180 km), which connect key agricultural production areas to regional markets and ports in Djibouti, Mombasa, and Lamu. These strategic arteries account for approximately 80% of agricultural-related freight movement. Meanwhile, river transport along the White Nile, from Juba to Renk, offers a low-cost, climate-resilient alternative, especially where road construction faces security or budgetary challenges. Freight modeling using FAO and WFP data suggests that reviving these routes could unlock over 2 million tons in export capacity and enable the import substitution of nearly 500,000 tons of food staples.

Reforming Institutions: From Oil-for-Roads to Results

A cornerstone of the current transport investment strategy has been the “Oil for Roads” program, initiated in 2019. Under this model, South Sudan allocated up to 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day to fund road construction projects. While it enabled the completion of some key roads such as the Juba–Bor highway, the program is riddled with inefficiencies, poor oversight, and limited value-for-money accountability. The World Bank report is blunt in its assessment: institutional fragmentation, overlapping mandates across ministries, and lack of transparency have hindered delivery. To fix this, the report recommends a comprehensive reform of governance mechanisms. It proposes a unified oversight body within the Ministry of Finance, a national transport master plan, and formal procedures for project selection. Additionally, it advocates for the creation of a River Transport Authority and a dedicated project implementation unit to manage resource-backed infrastructure deals, ensuring that contracts are transparent, socially responsible, and technically sound.

Skills, Climate, and a Call to Action

No infrastructure agenda can succeed without local expertise and long-term institutional memory. South Sudan’s professional base in engineering, logistics, and planning is dangerously thin due to years of conflict and displacement. The report calls for national-level capacity building through partnerships with the Engineering Council of South Sudan and universities like the University of Juba. All donor and government-funded projects, it stresses, should include mentorship and on-the-job training for young professionals. Equally important is climate resilience. South Sudan is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather, with roads like Juba–Rumbek having already been washed out shortly after completion. The report emphasizes integrating climate adaptation, both hard infrastructure like flood controls and soft measures like land-use planning, into all investment decisions.

Ultimately, the report does more than diagnose a failing sector; it offers a blueprint for a new developmental pathway. It argues persuasively that investment in carefully chosen corridors, combined with policy reform, capacity building, and climate adaptation, can shift South Sudan from emergency-driven aid toward inclusive, sustainable growth. In doing so, the country has a chance to not only connect markets and people, but to connect with a future marked by resilience, self-reliance, and shared prosperity. The message is clear: the time to act is now.