World Bank: Political Instability, Geopolitical Tensions could Make 105 Million Africans Food Insecure

Gilbert Ekugbe

The World Bank has stated that over 105 million people are at risk of food insecurity in Africa due to conflicts and climate shocks.

The World Bank’s latest Africa Pulse further reported that political instability and geopolitical tensions are weighing on economic activities and might constrain access to food for an estimated 105 million people.

The report is coming at a time when most African countries are still relying on imports to meet their food needs.

“African governments’ fiscal positions remain vulnerable to global economic disruptions, necessitating policy actions to build buffers to prevent or cope with future shocks,” the World Bank added.

The report also highlighted that external resources to meet gross financing needs of African governments are shrinking, “and those available are costlier than they were prior to the pandemic.”

“What is more, inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the highest in the world, second only to the Latin America and Caribbean region, as measured by the region’s average Gini coefficient. Access to basic services, such as schooling or healthcare, remains highly unequal despite recent improvements. Disparities also exist in access to markets and income-generating activities, irrespective of people’s skills. Taxes and poorly targeted subsidies may also have an outsized impact on the poor,” the report added.

The report called for several policy actions to foster stronger and more equitable growth. These include restoring macro-economic stability, promoting inter-generational mobility, supporting market access, and ensuring that fiscal policies do not overburden the poor.

The report, however, pointed out that increased private consumption and declining inflation are supporting an economic rebound in Sub-Saharan Africa, maintaining that Africa’s recovery remained fragile due to uncertain global economic conditions, growing debt service obligations, frequent natural disasters, and escalating conflict and violence while transformative policies are needed to address deep-rooted inequality to sustain long-term growth and effectively reduce poverty.

The report projected that growth would rebound in 2024, rising from a low of 2.6 per cent in 2023 to 3.4 per cent in 2024, and 3.8 per cent in 2025.

“However, this recovery remained tenuous. While inflation is cooling across most economies, falling from a median of 7.1 to 5.1 per cent in 2024, it remains high compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Additionally, while growth of public debt is slowing, more than half of African governments grapple with external liquidity problems, and face unsustainable debt burdens, “it stated.

Overall, the report underscored that despite the projected boost in growth, the pace of economic expansion in the region remains below the growth rate of the previous decade (2000-2014) and is insufficient to have a significant effect on poverty reduction.

It added, “Moreover, due to multiple factors including structural inequality, economic growth reduces poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa less than in other regions.”