At 75, Galiche Buwa has lived through civil wars, famine and natural disasters, but the South Sudanese widowed mother of four always managed to get by, thanks to her grocery business. Now, however, even that standby is on shaky ground, as the oil-dependent nation’s economy reels from revenue losses following the rupture of a key pipeline in its war-torn neighbour Sudan in February. The damaged pipeline was crucial for transporting South Sudan’s crude oil abroad, with petroleum exports traditionally accounting for about 90 per cent of the impoverished country’s GDP.
The implications have been far-reaching, with inflation soaring as the value of the South Sudanese pound relative to the US dollar plunges on the black market, from 2,100 in March to 3,100 today. The official rate slipped from around 1,100 in February to nearly 1,550 this month. “Since the 1970s up to now I am still here, but these days we are suffering.
Things are tough,” Buwa said as she glumly tended to her stall at the Konyo-Konyo market in the capital Juba. “We are unable to buy stock, things are expensive..
. and prices keep rising every day,” she said, compelling her to purchase supplies on credit. As wholesale costs shoot up, retail prices follow — a mug of maize sold by Buwa was worth 800 South Sudanese pounds in March, compared to 2,000 today, she said.
Teddy Aweye, a 28-year-old mother of two, said she was struggling to put food on the table, forcing her family to eat just one meal a day. .
