By CECILIA OLOGUNAGBA

COVID-19 has ‘pushed back’ democracy in Africa and the war in Ukraine has introduced significant and worrying new risks likely to heavily impact Africa, UN development experts warned on Friday.

According to the experts, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will effect food security on the continent, both through availability and pricing of imported food, along with rising uncertainties in global financial markets and supply chains.

They noted that Russia and Ukraine, both often referred to as the world’s breadbasket, are major players in the export of wheat and sunflower to Africa.

Between them, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Africa, account for 80 per cent of all wheat imports, which are projected to reach 76.5 million tons by 2025.

At a media briefing in Geneva on the impacts of the war in Ukraine on Africa, Nigeria’s Ahunna Eziakonwa, Director of the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Africa bureau, said the COVID-19 pandemic had already created “immense discontent” across the continent.

COVID has pushed tens of millions of people into poverty and “pushed back” democracy in parts of Africa, she added.

The pandemic has also complicated efforts to overcome insecurity and violence, the UNDP regional director continued, referring to the violent extremism and climate shocks that have destabilized vast areas of the Sahel region in recent years.

Drawing attention to the “global pandemic that upended the world and changed it forever, the bureau chief said, “we have never experienced greater pressure and challenge before.

“We have never experienced greater pressure and challenge in our ability to sustain peace and development and a healthy planet, as we experience today.

“We saw how COVID-19 complicated the effort to maintain or to overcome the insecurity that’s created by many forces including violent extremism.

“We saw the impact of COVID-19, the consequence, it affected live and livelihoods but also creating an immense discontent about the population which led to a regression in democracy.

“It has also resulted in a surge of “pre-existing conditions, rising poverty and inequality.”

Also speaking, UNDP’s senior Africa economist Raymond Gilpin, noted that the continent’s dependence on imports of food, fuel, medicines and consumer goods made it particularly vulnerable to rising global inflation.

Describing the situation as “an unprecedented crisis for the continent,” he explained that Africa was facing a trifecta of “ongoing effects of COVID…newly felt effects of the Russia-Ukraine war and…climate related challenges and pressures.

“As the cost of fuel becomes more expensive, energy sources, energy prices, don’t fall in African countries, we are going to see millions of households going back to unsustainable energy sources.

“This in many fragile environments, in particular looking at places like the Sahel.”

In addition, he said the continent would see a lot more deforestation and a roll back of a significant progress that had been made in the greening of the Sahel.

“Moreover, tensions would likely rise, with a distinct possibility of spilling over into violent protests,” he added. (NAN)

•FILE - Wheat flour is seen stockpiled in a warehouse in Ibafo, Ogun State, southwest Nigeria, March 15, 2022. African countries are bracing for the fallout the Russia-Ukraine war will have on their supply chains.

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