Addressing Entrepreneurial Gaps in South Sudan

Academic Research  ·  Systems Thinking  ·  20 min read

South Sudanese students, particularly from low-income backgrounds, have limited access to entrepreneurial resources such as mentorship, funding, and business training. Therefore, they cannot compete for opportunities available to entrepreneurs from developing countries. This limits their ability to scale their ideas and sustain their businesses, exacerbating unemployment and poverty nationwide.

Entrepreneurial Gaps in South Sudan — opening analysis
South Sudan's economic landscape and entrepreneurial challenges

Problem Background

Context and Economic Fragility

South Sudan's economy has been one of the most fragile in the last decade. The country's economy is in crisis — the South Sudanese pound has declined in value and the cost of goods and services has skyrocketed. At one point the inflation rate reached 835 percent, the highest in the world at the time (Mercy Corps, 2023). South Sudan's economic situation is jeopardized by the heavy reliance on oil revenue, which limits industrial diversification.

The youth unemployment rate stands at over 40%, and rural areas are often economically excluded. While regionally, youth are addressing unemployment through entrepreneurship sustained by funding for developing countries, South Sudan lacks access to mentorship, funding, and business development — limiting the country's potential for economic growth.

The problem is further exacerbated by cultural perceptions towards work. Most South Sudanese have a "manager's mindset," fearing risk and preferring white-collar jobs, which are very limited across the country. This system requires an approach that combines short-term goals with long-term visions.

Youth Unemployment Economic Fragility Oil Dependency Post-Conflict Development
Systems thinking balancing loops diagram
Reinforcing and balancing loops in South Sudan's entrepreneurial ecosystem

Systems Thinking Analysis

Feedback Loops and Structural Dynamics

R1 — Skill Development and Employment: A better, experiential learning educational system can lower the unemployment rate while increasing economic growth. When employment grows, there is increased economic growth which leads to more investment in education.

B1 — Entrepreneurial Activity and Unemployment: When entrepreneurial support is given, more jobs are created which leads to a reduction in unemployment.

R2 — Economic Growth and Investment: When there is economic growth, there is enough financial support for education and entrepreneurial activities, leading to a robust economy.

B2 — Governance and Structural Barriers: When policies are drafted to support education, there is increased access to education. Over time, this addresses skills gaps and leads to a reduction in unemployment.

B3 — Technological Infrastructure and Growth: When money is injected into improving infrastructure, the economy flourishes and attracts foreign investments, which can be reinvested into technological infrastructure.

Systems Thinking Feedback Loops Policy Design Structural Analysis
Stakeholder mapping for entrepreneurial gaps in South Sudan
Stakeholder mapping across the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Impact Gaps Canvas

Key Themes and Structural Weaknesses

Skill Gaps and Education Quality: The educational system is theory-focused and does not provide the skills the job market demands. Most students lack practical knowledge to thrive in the workforce or entrepreneurial field.

Barriers to Entrepreneurship: Bureaucratic barriers limit entrepreneurial growth. Limited access to finances, inadequate mentorship, and tedious processes for acquiring operational permits coupled with high taxes prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from starting or scaling businesses.

Economic Dependence and Structural Weaknesses: The heavy dependence on oil revenues leaves the country vulnerable when oil prices drop. This weak structural system has increased corruption and made public offices the top priority, ignoring entrepreneurship.

Insecurity and Poor Infrastructure: Political instability has largely contributed to underdeveloped infrastructure and undermined business development in the region, exacerbating unemployment challenges.

Impact Gaps Canvas Stakeholder Mapping Bureaucratic Barriers Infrastructure
Levers of change for entrepreneurial development
Levers of change identified through the solutions landscape analysis

Solutions Landscape

Existing Models and Opportunities for Action

Organizations like Educate offer youth-focused entrepreneurship training to equip students with practical skills. ALX Africa empowers youth with digital skills through experiential learning programs tailored to African challenges. Institutions like BRAC offer loans and grants to small SMEs and young entrepreneurs, enabling them to overcome financial barriers.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation supports promising African entrepreneurs with mentorship and seed funding. The UNLEASH Global Innovation Lab fosters entrepreneurship by providing a collaborative environment for young innovators to create solutions to the 17 SDGs. In Kenya, the Youth Empowerment Initiative between the government and private sector provides upskilling opportunities and job creation.

The gaps from the impact canvas highlight the need for context-specific solutions in South Sudan. Despite efforts by government agencies and civil society organizations, gaps in mentorship reach, technological infrastructure, and regulatory reform remain significant — calling for partnerships between relevant stakeholders to scale solutions.

Tony Elumelu Foundation UNLEASH Innovation ALX Africa Micro-Finance Mentorship Networks
Iceberg model analysis of entrepreneurial gaps
The iceberg model reveals deep structural causes beneath visible symptoms

Conclusion

Key Takeaways and Pathways Forward

Through the systems thinking approach, I have gained the understanding that most of the problems we face today are consequences of well-intended solutions we implemented yesterday. The systems often suffer from policy resistance — the tendency for well-intentioned interventions to be defeated by the response of the system to the intervention itself (Sterman, 2002).

This systems mapping project has opened my eyes to the interconnected gaps within South Sudan's entrepreneurial ecosystem — the interconnection between educational gaps, structural barriers, and economic dependency. These gaps play a key role in exacerbating unemployment and staggering entrepreneurial growth.

Key takeaways include: the need for immediate alignment of educational curricula with market demands; reforming financial systems to support SMEs and youth start-ups; and building public-private partnerships to drive sustainable development. Reforming the educational system, integrating entrepreneurship into school curricula, adjusting policies that discourage entrepreneurship, and investing in technology and infrastructure are the critical levers of change.

Policy Resistance Curriculum Reform Public-Private Partnerships Innovation Hubs Digital Infrastructure
"Most of the problems we face today are consequences of well-intended solutions we implemented yesterday." — Sterman, 2002
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