The launch of South Sudan’s first music baseline study marks an important step towards understanding a sector that has long been visible through its talent, but far less visible through data.
The study was commissioned by the Ghines Foundation, conducted by ORECA, and developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Heritage and Museums and UNESCO Juba Office. It provides an evidence base on the realities facing musicians and other actors within South Sudan’s music sector, including livelihoods, policy, infrastructure, rights, markets and access to professional opportunities.
For South Sudan, the significance of the study goes beyond documenting the challenges facing musicians. Reliable sector information provides policymakers, development partners and cultural institutions with a clearer basis for deciding where support is needed and what interventions are likely to have the greatest value.
The findings point to structural issues that require attention. Many musicians continue to depend heavily on live performance for income, while formal systems for copyright administration, royalty collection, digital monetisation and sector financing remain limited. Weak policy and institutional frameworks also affect the ability of artists to develop sustainable careers and businesses.
The study therefore creates an opportunity to move the conversation from recognising South Sudan’s musical talent to asking what kind of industry and institutional environment is needed around that talent.
This matters beyond South Sudan.
Across Africa, cultural and creative sectors are increasingly included in discussions about employment, trade, youth opportunity and economic diversification. Yet many countries still lack basic information about who works in these sectors, how they earn, where value is created and what barriers prevent businesses from growing.
Without that evidence, policy can easily be based on assumptions.
The South Sudan study demonstrates why baseline research should be considered an important part of cultural-sector development. It provides a starting point against which future programmes, investments and policy changes can be measured.
For ORECA, the research also reinforces a broader question facing the continent: how do we build stronger creative economies if we do not first understand how they currently work?
South Sudan now has an initial evidence base for its music sector. The next challenge is ensuring that the findings are used by government, cultural institutions, development partners, artists and the private sector to inform policy, strengthen institutions and create better conditions for musicians to build sustainable careers.
Research alone does not build an industry. But it can help ensure that the decisions that follow are grounded in reality.