29/03/2026
: South Sudan’s resilience trap: the dark side of resilience and the way out (Part 2)
By Mabor Agany
See part 1: https://www.facebook.com/hotinjuba/posts/1392560302915511
What is the way forward?
How can a society escape or avoid the dark side of resilience? How can it move beyond surviving a crisis and begin to develop and prosper? How do we convert resilience into a force for progress rather than merely a mechanism for endurance and survival?
There are nations that have done exactly this. After the Korean War in the early 1950s, South Koreans were among the poorest people in the world. Today, fewer than 14% of South Koreans live below the poverty line, compared to an estimated 90% or more of South Sudanese by world standards. Rwanda, after the genocide of 1994, is now one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa. So how did they do it?
The methods used by other societies to escape the dark side of resilience can serve as lessons for our leaders and policymakers.
Shift from coping to transformation
Research on resilience led by Carl Folke and Brian Walker argues that the key to escaping stagnation is transformational change — transforming institutions and governance, redesigning economic systems, and building new social norms. After the Korean War, the South Korean government invested heavily in education, industrialisation, and export-driven growth, which drove its transformation into a high-income country.
Investing in human capital
Research consistently shows that societies escape the resilience trap by investing heavily in education. This is what South Korea and many other countries did to improve the livelihoods of their people. In 1763, Frederick the Great, then King of Prussia (Germany), introduced compulsory and free education for all citizens. Today, education remains free in Germany from primary school to university. Germany currently has the largest economy in Europe.
Failure to invest in education is a form of self-destruction in a world governed by the law of nature: survival of the fittest. The fittest are those who adapt to changing environments and acquire new skills and values to progress. The harsh reality is that our society currently lacks the skills needed to compete in the modern global economy. Only through sustained investment in education can the government accelerate transformation. The majority of our people depend on subsistence farming — through education and technology, this can evolve into industrialised, export-capable agriculture.
Building accountable institutions
Development research consistently shows that societies escape stagnation when they build strong institutions that hold leaders accountable. Botswana is one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Africa, but this was not always the case. After independence in 1966, the government built transparent institutions, established the rule of law, and managed its diamond revenues responsibly. The results speak for themselves.
Rwanda, after the genocide, embarked on a comprehensive state-rebuilding project: long-term national planning, anti-corruption policies, and significant investment in technology and governance. Rwanda’s transformation is not simply an African success story but a blueprint that South Sudan can learn from.
Conclusion
Studies show that when resilience becomes a society’s primary response to systemic failure — when endurance replaces demand for change — it can quietly become the very force that keeps people trapped.
Think of the boy in a cattle camp in Rumbek or Bentiu, or a young boy walking under the hot sun in Juba cleaning shoes to make ends meet. How will they compete with their peers in an increasingly digital global economy? Think of children still sitting under trees in the rain to access education. That is resilience. But those children deserve more than the ability to survive.
They deserve strong institutions and government investment that matches their endurance with ambition. Resilience should be the foundation of progress, not a substitute for it. The way forward is to transform survival into ambition, build accountable institutions, and invest in the education of our people.
The writer is a concerned citizen and a software engineer based in Germany. He can be reached at [email protected] or via his website: maboragany.com
