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AfDB outlines fresh economic crisis fears 

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has warned that the tripling costs of fertiliser and the rising energy and food prices due to the Ukraine crisis could worsen economic situations in African countries.

In a statement, AfDB group president Akinwumi Adesina said African countries must prepare for the inevitability of a global food crisis.

He said: “AfDB is already active in mitigating the effects of a food crisis through the African Food Crisis Response and Emergency Facility, a dedicated facility being considered by the bank to provide African countries with the resources needed to raise local food production and procure fertiliser.

Adesina: We must solve our own challenges

“My basic principle is that Africa should not be begging. We must solve our own challenges ourselves without depending on others.”

Adesina noted that 90 percent of Russia’s $4 billion exports to Africa in 2020 were made up of wheat while 48 percent of Ukraine’s near $3 billion exports to the continent were wheat and 31 percent maize.

He said Russia and Ukraine supply 30 percent of global wheat exports, whose price has surged by almost 50 percent globally, reaching similar levels to those registered during the 2008 global food crisis.

Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences associate professor of economics Betchani Tchereni said vulnerable countries such as Malawi, which overspend on imports, are likely to face balance of payment issues.

Before the Ukraine crisis, government launched the Social Economic Recovery Plan aimed at recovering the economy from effects of natural disasters such as Tropical Storm Ana and the Covid-19 pandemic.

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