The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Friday said Africa faces an unprecedented crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war that has led to soaring food and fuel prices, reported UN News.
At a media briefing in Geneva on the impacts on Africa of the war in Ukraine, Ahunna Eziakonwa, Director of the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Africa bureau, said that the COVID-19 pandemic had already created “immense discontent” across Africa.
She added that the pandemic has pushed tens of millions of people into poverty and pushed back democracy in parts of Africa.
The conflict in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Moscow are disrupting supplies of wheat, fertilizer, and other goods, compounding the difficulties African countries are already facing due to climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Africa’s dependence on imports of food, fuel, medicines, and consumer goods has made it particularly vulnerable to rising global inflation.
Notably, Russia and Ukraine, both are major players in the export of wheat and sunflower to Africa. The two countries account for 80 percent of all wheat imports to Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Africa. The imports are projected to reach 76.5 million tonnes by 2025. Rising oil prices from the war have also increased the cost of fuel and diesel.
“This is an unprecedented crisis for the continent,” UNDP Africa chief economist Raymond Gilpin said on Friday.
He said there is a reduction in GDP growth on the continent. Rising prices and the slowdown in economic growth are putting millions of households at risk across the continent with the poorest countries in the world.
Gilpin said economic difficulties could also exacerbate social tensions in crisis-hit parts of the continent, such as the Sahel, parts of central Africa, and the Horn of Africa, with a distinct possibility of resulting in violent protests.
