Africa-Press – Eswatini. Unprecedented jumps in diesel and gasoline prices have ignited public anger, turning major capitals and cities in Africa into arenas for violent protests and widespread strikes that have paralyzed daily life. This unrest is a result of the effects of the American-Israeli war on Iran.
A report prepared by a local source highlighted the severe negative repercussions that have cast a shadow over African economies, noting that the continent is paying the price for an international conflict in which it has no stake, particularly through the energy and fuel sector. This has led to a wave of disturbances threatening public peace in several countries.
Among the most affected countries is Kenya, which has witnessed violent clashes between security forces and angry protesters over the skyrocketing transportation and essential goods prices.
The Comoros Islands have experienced near-total paralysis due to strikes in the transportation sector that halted commercial movement, while widespread protests erupted in Mozambique demanding immediate government intervention to curb imported inflation.
The report indicated that the crisis has placed African governments in a tight spot; the fuel subsidy bill has surged beyond the capacities of already strained local budgets.
Faced with this structural inability to contain rising prices, several governments have been forced to take emergency and exceptional measures, including rationing energy consumption in certain sectors, restructuring public budgets to save sovereign funds from bankruptcy, and turning to international financing institutions for urgent loans.
The report concluded that the continuation of the war in the Middle East threatens to transform the fuel crisis in Africa from merely an economic distress into a comprehensive social and political explosion, which could topple entire governments that have failed to protect their citizens from the flames of global prices.
