Oil, Referendum and the Economic Impacts of Southern Sudan Secession

Abstract

The secession of the South was officially proclaimed on Monday 7 February 2011. That marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the Sudan. However, that was not passively or heedlessly received by the Sudanese, as has been wrongly promulgated by some mass media. The mass of the Sudanese thinkers and intellectuals expressed agony, shock or disenchantment with this outcome in the many symposiums and forums organized by Research Centrs. That does not controvert or dis-affirm the fact that few Northern Sudanese politicians expressed happiness and optimism. That is conflicting with the former mass and reveals different sentiments and also estimations of the post-impact and effects on the former one-country. There were multiple relationships and undeniable dependence on oil revenues, both in the North and the South. The sudden deprivation from oil that represented 75% of the GDP, over 95% of foreign currencies revenues are just part of the shock. Thus, it is necessary to go through some earlier overtones of secession that may help illuminate the prospective course of North-South relations and hence the possibility of establishing a strong economic complementary partnerships apart from that of transporting the oil of the south through the pipeline which passes through the North to Bashayir Seaport.