South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
The much acclaimed Bentiu oil refinery is nearing completion as noted by the minister of presidential affairs, Bangasi Joseph Bakasoro.
South Sudan is a net importer of fuel products such as diesel, petrol and other products, and yet it is an exporter of crude oil.
The current economic crisis could have been mitigated if the Bentiu refinery was operational, because it would provide refined oil products for local consumption and also export, earning the government revenue.
South Sudan is among the oil-rich countries which tend to spend a lot of the hard earned hard currency on importing expensively refined oil products. This situation has left the weak economy exposed to external pressures.
The oil refinery will not only create job opportunities but will also create by-products for the development of chemical industries, what is termed as linkages in economics.
This is an opportunity for the national government to harness the existence of the Bentiu refinery to the maximum. Failure to do so would be a wasted opportunity for the next generation of South Sudanese.
