The Center for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba has released a new study detailing the cost of war in South Sudan.

It estimates that if the conflict continues for another one to five years, it would cost South Sudan up to 28 billion US dollars.

The report was released at a public lecture in Juba last evening.

The report on the cost of war in South Sudan was prepared by Frontier Economics in collaboration with the Center for Conflict Resolution Uganda, and the Center for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba.

It is an estimation of the economic and financial costs of the on-going conflict in the country.

The Director of the Center for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba, Dr. Luka Biong Deng, says the report is the first attempt to assess the cost of war in South Sudan.

“…if the conflict continues for another one to five years, it would cost South Sudan between 22.3  and 28 billion US dollars. This is only for South Sudan. But if the war continues with an effect for twenty years, then the loss may be between 122 billion to 158 billion US dollars. So this may cost about 6 billion US dollars. But then in terms of military expenditure, it could increase to 2.2 billion US dollars.” He said.

Dr. Biong also said the current conflict will have a long-term impact on the country, which he says will last for nearly thirty years.

He said: “…in terms of the human cost, in terms of the hunger, what is happening to people, people are displaced, we have food insecure people, we have the impact of these on productivity how much we could have produced if you have been healthy.”

Dr. Luka Biong also said would cost the international community about 33 billion US dollars in peace keeping operations if it continues for five to twenty years.