Bones of contention

There is also the Lego-political challenge of harmonizing the laws between the South and the North. The South, being predominantly Christian and African, follows common English law. The North, on the other hand, with its Arab and Islamic heritage, is a mix of Sharia law with shades of common English law.

The other huge issue is the Nile waters. This has to be handled carefully because it is crucial for the integration agenda, not only with the East Africa Community, but also with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

According to a regional water intelligence report presented in December 2010, the secession only increased the appetite for the new nation to join the blocs as "an avenue for sharing tangible benefits" such as agricultural products and hydropower electricity. Other benefits include flood and drought management.

"The regional integration agenda is strong in the Nile Equatorial Lakes region and provides a forum for cooperation in many aspects including peace and security, trade, transport, natural resources management and immigration," notes the report titled The Nile Basin and the Southern Sudan Referendum which was sponsored by the United Nations Development Program.

South Sudan currently depends to a large extent on thermal electricity generation. Huge tankers from Khartoum supply fuel, mainly diesel. It has been reported that South Sudan has considerable hydropower potential.

"Feasibility studies show that the area has the potential of becoming a net exporter of hydropower generated electricity if the sector is developed. This would enable electricity supplies to Sudan as a whole in addition to the wider region by interconnecting currently isolated networks. It would provide diversification to South Sudan's economy by lessening the dependence on oil," notes a 2010 UNDP-sponsored report.

It said the Nile waters are not among the pressing issues for the new country and thus it can wait and see the risks and limitations and assess all options available before binding itself to the various treaties surrounding the use of the Nile waters.

With the vast potential to begin irrigation-based agriculture, given the huge oil assets, land and water, the officials from the government of South Sudan believe that if everything goes right, then the new country "can become the breadbasket of the continent and the Middle East."

(Reporting from Kenya)