A Millennium Development Goals-Based Strategy for Rebuilding the Postconflict Sudanese Economy

Like many large and populous African countries, Sudan has been defined by conflict and disappointing development performance.1 It has suffered through more than 37 years of civil war, beginning upon independence in 1956. The fighting was briefly interrupted by an uneasy peace from 1972 to 1983, after which the country fell back into the civil strife that continued until recently, before a historic peace agreement was concluded in January 2005, formally ending the longest civil war in Africa. Throughout the more than 40 years since 1960, Sudan’s average annual growth rate per person was a miniscule 0.4%. Moreover, this growth has been very volatile, and high per capita growth could only be sustained for two disjointed periods: the first half of the peace era following the Addis Ababa Agreement (1975–79), and the current growth spell (1995 to the present), mostly driven by exceptionally favorable weather conditions and the emergence of oil as a major contributor to Sudan’s economy. The failure of growth in Sudan is associated with a broad and multifaceted development crisis, the most serious manifestation of which is widespread poverty and a tragic human development crisis.