Ukraine war - The African Mirror

Jul

2022

Putin meets Iran’s Khamenei on first trip outside ex-Soviet Union since Ukraine war

GUY FAULCONBRIDGE and PARISA HAFEZI RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin had talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran on Tuesday, the Kremlin leader's first trip outside the former Soviet Union since Moscow's February 24 invasion of Ukraine. In Tehran, Putin also held his first face-to-face meeting since the invasion with a NATO leader, Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss a deal that would resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports as well as the conflict in northern Syria. Putin's trip, coming just days after U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel and Saudi Arabia, sends a strong message to the West about…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

“Future for African gas is bright”

NEWS

AARON ROSS SENEGALESE President Macky Sall said there is growing international support for developing gas resources in Africa as part of the continent's energy transition. African leaders have bristled at pledges by Western countries to eliminate or reduce development financing in Africa for gas projects in the name of fighting climate change, even as those same countries tout gas as a "transition fuel" at home. On Wednesday, the European Parliament backed EU rules labelling investments in gas and nuclear power plants as climate-friendly. Gas is a fossil fuel that produces planet-warming emissions, but far less than coal. "We need to…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine war increases U.N. food agency’s costs in hunger-hit West Africa

NEWS

OPERATIONAL costs of the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) will increase by $136 million in West Africa this year because of the global rise in food and fuel prices driven by the war in Ukraine, the agency said. The additional costs will hamper attempts to relieve a spiralling food crisis in the region fuelled by conflict, drought, pandemic-linked border closures and the impact of Ukraine's crisis on food prices and availability. The WFP was already struggling to expand its response to an "unprecedented food and nutrition crisis" in West Africa, and was forced to cut rations in seven countries…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Africa’s $4-billion cushion against Ukraine war shocks

NEWS

AFREXIMBANK said it had set up a $4 billion trade finance programme to cushion economies and businesses on the continent against shocks arising from the war in Ukraine, that demand for financing already exceeds the amount. Cairo-headquartered Afreximbank said its Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa was approved by its board at the end of March. It said the fund would extend to areas such as oil and metals buy-back financing, commodity export revenue stabilisation and tourism revenue deficit financing. "Given the importance of both Russia and Ukraine as sources of crude oil and gas, raw materials and…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Rwanda raises pump prices of petrol, diesel on Ukraine war supply concerns

NEWS

THE prices of petrol and diesel at the pump were increased in Rwanda, the utility regulator said, amid instability in the global oil market caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. Rwanda has stabilised fuel pump prices since May 2021 by foregoing some taxes on petroleum products in a bid to dampen inflation. But on Monday the landlocked country hiked the price of petrol 8.2% to 1,359 Rwandan francs ($1.32) per litre and diesel 13.9% to 1,368 Rwandan francs ($1.33) per litre for the next two months, said Deo Muvunyi, head of the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority. "We had…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine war: Fleeing students faced racism, extortion

NEWS

KIM HARRISBERG and NITA BHALLA WITH the sound of shelling over overhead, Nigerian medical student John Adebisi has been trapped for nine days in a basement in the north-east Ukrainian town of Sumy, wracked by fear and without enough money or means to escape. More than 1 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Russian troops invaded on February 24, but many more are stuck, particularly foreign students whose governments and families lack planes, cash or connections to get them out. Racism makes it harder to flee, several students said, after watching social media videos of African, Asian and Middle Eastern travellers being…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine war: Can Africa become Europe’s next gas station?

NEWS

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY EXPERTS expect Europe to ramp up investments into Africa’s natural gas sector to shock-absorb its economy from the unfolding crisis in Ukraine and the potential for energy supplies disruption in the future. In January, the European Union drafted a proposal to classify natural gas projects as “green energy” investments, potentially allowing the block to invest in the sector and at the same time contribute to what African nations are increasingly calling a "just transition" in the energy sector as the continent taps into gas and uses the proceeds to build on its huge green energy…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Ukraine war: How will economic sanctions hit ordinary Russians?

WORLD

SONIA ELKS and EMMA BATHA FROM buying a washing machine to getting a filling at the dentist, ordinary Russians could face big price hikes for consumer goods and import shortages as economic sanctions bite, analysts say. The United States and Europe have unveiled a slew of reprisal measures designed to hit Russia's economy in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Here is how the sanctions are affecting Russia and how the situation might develop: What are the sanctions Russia is facing? Western nations have unleashed a package of economic measures targeting key sectors and individuals, restricting the country's access to technology and financing as…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Egypt sees exodus of dollars since start of Ukraine war

BUSINESS

EGYPT has seen hundreds of millions of dollars leave its treasury markets since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week as investors flee emerging markets for safer pastures, two bankers with knowledge of the matter said. Even before the crisis, Egypt had been working to sustain appetite for its treasury bills to plug current account and budget deficits and fend off pressure to let its currency weaken ahead of possible U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes starting this month. A moderate sell-off of Egyptian treasuries that began on Thursday gained momentum when European markets opened on Monday, according to the bankers,…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Analysis: Russia’s missiles see mixed results in Ukraine war as world watches

WORLD

JOSH SMITH RUSSIA has employed hundreds of powerful and precise ballistic missiles in the first days of its Ukraine attack, but analysts and U.S. officials say many Ukrainian defences remain intact - effects that countries around the world are watching closely. The use of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) is likely being watched closely as a real-world case study by China, North Korea, and other countries that have been developing increasingly advanced arsenals of such weapons in recent years. And Western governments who see Russia as an adversary are eager to gather data on the missiles' effects in combat. Russia had…