South Sudan spent its oil revenue in state building and salaries or personal accounts during the interim period instead of promoting development.
Billy Berto Madison lectures at the University of Juba. He said on Tuesday at the launch of the Africa Human Development Report that most of the oil money Juba received from Khartoum was used for state building and salaries.He added that it also ended up in the pockets of corrupted officials as the Auditor General wrote in his 2005 and 2006 report.
Dr Berto added that the Government needs to address rural poverty through what he called accelerated agricultural development to cap the food gap and reduce poverty in South Sudan.
He said the government needs to take a broader development attitude that requires multi-sector approach to farming instead of leaving it with the agriculture ministry.