- AfDB President Dr Akinwumi Adesina predicts a hike in food and energy prices.
- 90% of Russia’s $4bn exports to Africa in 2020 were wheat.
Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, has predicted that fertilizer costs, energy prices, and food basket costs will intensify in Africa in the next months.
While fielding questions from the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center Chair, Ambassador Rama Yade; Senior Fellow Aubrey Hruby; and Julian Pecquet, Washington/UN correspondent for Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.
The head of the African Development Bank emphasised the need for Africa to prepare for the global food crisis, which the conflict in Ukraine has exacerbated.
“Speaking on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, Adesina expressed sorrow for the people of Ukraine, calling their pain incomprehensible,” the statement said in part. He claimed that the war’s consequences extended far beyond Ukraine to other parts of the globe, including Africa. He explained that Russia and Ukraine supply 30% of global wheat exports and that the price of wheat has increased by nearly 50% globally, reaching levels similar to those seen during the 2008 global food crisis. He went on to say that fertilizer prices had tripled and energy prices had risen, all of which had fueled inflation.
Adesina cautioned that the tripling of fertilizer costs, rising energy prices, and growing food basket costs in Africa could deteriorate in the coming months. He noted that 90% of Russia’s $4bn exports to Africa in 2020 were wheat, and 48% of Ukraine’s near $3bn exports to the continent were made of wheat and 31% of maize.