I'm no economist but would like to share some amatuer comments here. Corrections are very welcome. :-) Given the right circumstances, we are destined to become even more bigger players in the region. We are also far capable of doing much more than we give ourself credits for, BUT, unfortunately we are stuck. Unable to move to the next level. I believe one reason that we cannot move ahead is the "shoppers" mentality that is holding many back from thinking what we need to do. I also honestly believe we need new people or injection of fresh ideas with goals commitments in govt that will be the core of what happens to the development of the nation. I write from a technology point of view and know we are literally shooting ourselves in both legs. We cannot fix the mistakes of the past hundreds of years as the older generations stood by and watched the first trains rollout across the land. These generations were mere bystanders on a free ride and could only match thinking that lacked visions and goals. How fast are things really moving? I can say that we are unable to keep up the pace, even in our technology fields. I listed the Mara Online project just as one, literally there are hundreds of such projects that have a National and International impact waiting to be done. It's also a shame we are bent of creating more and more end users in the economy. When we think of Southern Sudan as investments, we immediately think of what we can* buy to supply*-not anything beyond this-- yet we are regional leaders. The current economic practises must go and we need to match the growth with a balance of imports and local creations. Why is it that the pace of say e.g. e-Govt is extremely slow and only happens when it receives donor or world bank funding or external partners? Why is it that we have not created a better voting system or e-monitoring facilities to remove the system problems we are already aware of? If we think 2010 was when we implemented video in judiciary, then it seems we are in a bigger self denial in a global sense because the technology has existed since the 1980s and kept getting better over time. Things need to change, the system needs to change and also people's thinking needs to change. We need a balance if we are to go to the next level. I write from a technology point of view but am certain other sectors too will have similar views. Thank you.