Russia-Ukraine: Spill-over effects take toll on West Africa

Every African region has felt the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with West Africa also bearing the burden of a war miles away in Europe. At a period when West Africa has been facing a severe food crisis since 2011, the Ukraine conflict has complicated matters further. For most West African nations, the expenses of regulating rising prices are already too high. The West African economic crisis and the Russia-Ukraine scenario highlight the perilous linkages between diplomatic sanctions, commerce, and food security. Africa's post-Covid recovery hampered The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has hampered Africa's potential recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by raising food and fuel costs, interrupting the trade of services and goods, constricting fiscal space, limiting green transitions, and slowing the flow of development funding across the continent. The crisis has jeopardized homes, communities, and nations across Africa. Before 2020, African countries were among the world's fastest-growing. The COVID-19 pandemic undid the continent's years of hard-won financial, social, and governance advancements. Read: Putin opens opportunities for Mozambique, Angola Africa's Human Development Index fell for the first time in over three decades. Millions of Africans lost employment; an estimated 50 million fell into abject poverty. Global trade disruptions stifled development, and