Senegal's president and African Union chairman Macky Sall said on Wednesday that he will push them to unblock exports of grains and fertilizer in order to avoid widespread famine when he visits Russia and Ukraine in the coming weeks.
In a conversation with Mo Ibrahim, Sall said Africa is suffering from a crisis in food supply and soaring prices of basic goods and risks disastrous consequences if the situation continues.
Nearly half of Africa's 54 countries rely on Russia and Ukraine for wheat imports, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Russia is a major supplier of fertilizer to at least 11 countries. Sall said that the world doesn't know a famine after two years of COVID and almost three months of the war, and that we have pleaded for a ceasefire, an end to the war and the release of all food products. Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
There are multiple initiatives to call on countries that have grain stocks to liberate them and ensure that Russia can allow the export of cereals from Ukraine and export itself. He said that this is the African position.
If food supply blockades were to continue and there was a famine, Sall said: The world would not be able to contain the consequences because it would be massive on immigration. It would be dramatic for African countries. On Sunday, Sall said he would visit Moscow and Kyiv in his capacity as chairman of the African Union, which wants peace in Ukraine through dialogue between the two sides.