"Is oil money fuelling war in South Sudan?" 6 April 2019.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed since South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013, and millions more have been forced to flee their homes...A peace deal was signed in 2018 to end the war, but the situation is far from settled, with atrocities having been committed by both sides, and continued fighting between the government and armed groups.

In February 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council released a report describing what it believes is funding the war: the country's rich oil industry...According to the report, "oil revenues and income from other natural resources have continued to fund the war, enabling its continuation and the resulting human rights violations."

The country's oil sector is supervised by the minister of petroleum, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, who denies the UN's allegations and others...He says that expanding the country's oil production...and attracting foreign investors, will increase the money available for development projects...But with a lack of transparency - one organisation obtained secret documents suggesting that Nilepet paid $80m to war-related officials and activities over a 15-month period beginning in March 2014 - the concern is that these expansions would simply deepen corruption. South Sudan ranks 178 out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption index. But Gatkuoth says South Sudan's president has initiatives to address these issues...