Against the backdrop of a worsening global economic outlook fueled by ongoing Middle East conflict, leading African and international development institutions have issued a coordinated call for urgent policy intervention to protect African economies and vulnerable households from spiraling energy, food and fertilizer prices.
The appeal was formally made during the 58th Session of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, held between March 28 and April 3 in Tangier, Morocco, by four major bodies: the African Development Bank, the African Union Commission, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
In their official warnings, the institutions emphasized that current global shocks linked to the Middle East tensions are spreading far more rapidly and through more concentrated economic channels than previous global disruptions. This accelerated transmission leaves African nations with extremely limited time to adjust their economic policies and mitigate incoming damage, a stark contrast to past crises that gave regional economies more room for maneuver.
By late March 2026, the impacts of these disruptions were already tangible across every tier of African economies and household finances. Global oil prices have surged by more than 50 percent, while 29 African national currencies have depreciated significantly against major global reserve currencies. This currency weakening has simultaneously driven up the cost of servicing external sovereign debt and the price of importing essential goods including food, fuel, and fertilizer.
Disruptions to Gulf energy exports have also created critical shortages of ammonia and urea, key fertilizer components, at the worst possible moment: the March to May planting season across most of the continent. The shortage threatens to cut 2026 agricultural output sharply, deepening already widespread food insecurity that disproportionately harms low-income households and African nations that rely heavily on food and energy imports.
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission, noted that continued escalation of the Middle East conflict will only further erode global stability, with uniquely severe consequences for energy markets, food security, and long-term economic resilience across Africa, where baseline economic pressures already remain at acute levels.
Claver Gatete, UN under-secretary-general and executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, pointed out that Africa has repeatedly been forced to absorb the impact of major external shocks that the continent did nothing to create. “This moment calls for decisive action, to protect people now, but also to accelerate Africa’s long term push towards energy security, food sovereignty, and financial self-reliance,” Gatete said. “Crises like this reinforce why Africa must finance more of its own future and strengthen regional solutions that build resilience before the next shock hits.”
To address the immediate crisis, the four institutions laid out a tiered set of policy recommendations. In the short term, they called on African national governments, international development partners, and the private sector to roll out immediate targeted measures to cushion vulnerable households from price shocks and stabilize supply chains for fuel, food, and fertilizer.
In the medium term, the institutions urged wide-ranging structural reforms to boost regional energy security, expand national social protection programs, and accelerate intra-African trade under the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which is designed to break down long-standing barriers to cross-border commerce across the continent.
Looking to the long term, the group pushed for stronger domestic resource mobilization across African economies and the establishment of continent-wide African financial safety nets. A key priority named is the accelerated implementation of the African Financing Stability Mechanism, a regional tool designed to help nations respond to future economic shocks before they spiral into full-blown crises.