Libya and the Sudan: Rich Man, Poor Man

At first sight it may seem strange to examine Libya and the Sudan together, as the differences between the two states are more readily apparent than the similarities. Libya, blessed by its new oil wealth, enjoys a per capita GNP of $4275, the highest in Africa, whilst the Sudan, with a per capita income of $290, must be counted amongst the poorer countries of the continent.1 What the Sudan lacks in financial resources it makes up for in manpower, however, as it is the second most populous Arab-ruled state, with almost 18 million inhabitants, although one-third of these are non-Arabs.2 Libya’s population, in contrast, is under two and a half million, most of whom are still nomadic pastoralists, rather than being settled cultivators as in the Sudanese case. The Nile Valley is in fact one of the oldest areas of settled agriculture in the world, and Sudan’s economic links with the outside world, like Egypt’s, date back to the development of cotton production for export in the nineteenth century. Libya’s commercial links with the outside world are much more recent, for although it was colonised by Italy, domestic agriculture was relatively unimportant, and it is only in the last twenty years since the growth of the oil economy that the country has emerged as a significant trading nation.