Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
Published: March 16,2022
Downtown Nairobi• The problem in East Africa was mostly caused by external factors, including the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.• The Russian-Ukrainian war has caused global supply chain disruptions, a development that has directly affected many countries in East Africa who import a lot of their daily essentials.• Citizens are now calling on their governments to take action and alleviate their suffering.
It’s been a tough March for the citizens of East African countries, as the prices of essential products and commodities continue to skyrocket. The people are now calling on their governments to urgently find solutions to the problem in order to alleviate their suffering.
factors, an example of which is the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The ripple effect of the war had resulted in the disruption of global supply chains.
Now, seeing as many East African countries import most of their daily household essentials, the effect of the supply chain disruptions were immediately felt across the region.
Last week, some companies warned that the cost of living in East Africa could deteriorate in the coming weeks and months, amid surging prices. According to them, the external factors responsible for the situation are not showing any signs of abating.
In the meantime, Uganda’s Prime Minister RobinahNabbanja held an emergency meeting with manufacturers in a bid to figure out possible ways of cutting prices for essentials such as soap, cooking oil and other items. The meeting became necessary upon suspicion that some manufacturers were intentionally raising prices for the purpose of profiteering.
“It is the bulk importers that are taking advantage of this situation to raise the price and distort the market. Some companies have increased the price by a small margin, but others have hiked it to exploit Ugandans,” the Prime Minister told The East African.
Many Ugandans are hopeful that the meeting would yield the anticipated favourable result.
Over in Kenya, manufacturers have also warned of impending price increments for finished products. They cited the ongoing war in Eastern Europe, as well as rising crude oil prices as the main factors responsible for the decision.
Interestingly, the warning by Kenyan manufacturers is coming despite the fact that the East African country now currently has the cheapest diesel price in the region. As you may well know, many companies in Africa generate much of their electricity needs using diesel-powered generators.
Until recently, Kenya had the highest price per litre of diesel in East Africa. But as Business Daily reported, the Government recently began subsidising the commodity, thus crashing its price down to $0.99 per litre. This is quite lower than $1.22 per litre in Uganda, $1.31 in Burundi and $1.04 in Tanzania.
Speaking of Tanzania, President Samia Suluhu last week acknowledged the rising cost of living in the country and blamed it on the surging prices of essential commodities such as crude oil.
“The cost of living is going up, as prices of everything are going up. This is not a leadership issue, it is the state of the world,” the President was quoted to have said.
Her administration has already taken action by slightly reducing the levies charged on energy consumption by $0.04.
africa.businessinsider.com
