The Sudan Handbook

fRom slaVEs to oil 135

The Advent of Oil

The commercial exploitation of Sudan’s oil resources since the 1990s
has effected a transformation of the economy. At the same time it has
reinforced, rather than undermined, existing geographic patterns of wealth
distribution. Oil has become the country’s dominant export commodity,
and international interest in the sector has led to a sharp rise in foreign
investment flows, with some spillover into the non- hydrocarbons
economy, including some infrastructural development. Government
revenue has surged, allowing a strong rise in public spending.
The general outline of these changes is clear, but the detail of the
numbers is liable to be disputed. Reliable information on the Sudanese
economy is difficult to obtain. Although both the central Bank and the
IMF provide figures, they are sometimes of questionable quality. The
international data relies on information collected on behalf of the state;
this may be influenced by political considerations, or simply be unreli-
able. Economic activity in much of the south of the country, and in
northern regions that are difficult to access, such as Darfur, is largely
excluded.
Despite this proviso, the available information gives a broad idea of the
country’s current economic structure. Sudan’s gross domestic product
(GDP) at current prices appears to be fairly evenly divided between
agriculture, services and industry. In real terms, oil still accounted for
only around 17 per cent of the real economy in 2009, with even official
data suggesting that services and agriculture, at around 35 per cent
each, remained much more important. Meanwhile, industrial activity
beyond the oil sector was still relatively minor, at just over 10 per cent
of the total.
In employment terms, agriculture is still by far the single most
important sector, providing work for at least two-thirds of the working
population. In addition, it remains the foundation of the rural economy
across vast expanses of the country, rendering a large number of people
vulnerable to risks of disruption from climate and conflict. But agricul-
tural products are no longer the most important source of export
The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors

(www.riftvalley.net).