Russia-Ukraine Conflict Affects Africa's Wheat, Oil Importing Countries Most: Business Leader

April 18/2022 /ENA/  The Russia-Ukraine conflict affects wheat and oil importing African countries worst, a Washington-based business leader said.

"The Russia-Ukraine conflict has a very significant, a very immediate impact on many African economies that import wheat and other food products from Russia and Ukraine," said Zemedeneh Negatu, chairman of Fairfax Africa Fund, a Washington-based global investment firm, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

According to Negatu, the sanctions against Russia have worsened food inflation across the African continent, where the prices of fuel and other commodities are rising rapidly.

"A majority of African nations are feeling the economic pain caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict as the supply chain has been disrupted by the sanctions," he said, noting that Russia and Ukraine are the major suppliers of wheat to the continent.

"There are now a lot of restrictions on trading with Russia. So, prices of many items including wheat and steel have gone up as the supply chain from Ukraine and Russia has been disrupted," he added.

In its latest report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development revealed that Somalia, Benin, Egypt, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Tanzania are the African countries most affected by the market disruptions caused by the sanctions and the conflict in Ukraine.