April 2023, Edition #35
Food Security Update
- A total 345,927 MT of grains shipped to African countries including Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia under the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
- High food prices in most East Africa due to effects of the lean season, low stocks, conflicts, insecurity, and worsening macroeconomic conditions.
- IPC Phase 3 outcomes in most Southern Africa countries except Zimbabwe, where IPC 1 and 2 outcomes persist due to 2023 harvests.
- IPC 3 and 4 outcomes persist in West Africa due to low carryover stocks, restrictions on cereal exports, high transport costs and insecurity.
Food Trade
- Afreximbank has created the African Trade Facilitation Programme to facilitate partnerships with African commercial banks to help them finance intra-African trade.
- The East African Community secretariat has commenced the process of digitising its Common External Tariff.
Commodity Prices
- In East Africa, food commodity prices remain high in most countries, although some notable declines are seen in Rwanda and Uganda.
- In Southern Africa, except Mozambique, commodity prices remain generally elevated driven largely by the aftermath of cyclones and seasonal changes in food stocks.
- In West Africa, prices are generally lower in Cote d’Ivoire, but mixed in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Togo, and mostly-elevated in Ghana and Nigeria.
