AfDB to raise $1b to cushion African food crisis
The African Development Bank (AfDB) plans to raise one billion dollars in a week’s time to support agricultural production in Africa and shield the continent from potential food shortages arising from the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The UN says at least fifteen African countries get more than half their wheat from the two warring nations. Somalia, Benin, Egypt, and Sudan are the most dependent.
“The AfDB sees these increases in prices of wheat, maize, and soya beans as potentially going to worsen food insecurity and raise inflation,” Akinwumi Adesina, president of the bank said.
The bank intends to organise a meeting of African finance and agriculture ministers to roll out that plan.
