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World prices spark deadly
riots in Africa
Dakar—African governments are nervously confronting a mounting wave
of often deadly social unrest caused by the soaring cost of food and
fuel. Forty people died during price riots in Cameroon in February.
There also have been deadly troubles in Ivory Coast and Mauritania
and other violent demonstrations in Senegal and Burkina Faso—where a
nationwide strike against price rises is to start Tuesday.
Egypt warned of tough measures against anyone taking part in a
general strike called for Sunday to protest soaring inflation and
low pay. Governments across the continent—where the crisis ranges
from 100,000 percent inflation in Zimbabwe to Morocco, where
subsidies for key commodities have grown fivefold over six years—are
becoming anxious about public anger.
The rise in international food prices “poses significant threats to
Africa’s growth, peace and security,” African finance ministers
warned in a statement at the end of a meeting in Addis Ababa last
week to discuss the crisis. There have already been demonstrations
in Burkina Faso where a nationwide strike against the price of food
is due to start Tuesday, despite a government promise of action to
help the worst off.
The cost of rice has risen by 300 percent in Sierra Leone, already
one of the world’s poorest countries, and by about 50 percent in
Ivory Coast, Senegal and Cameroon. The cost of palm oil, sugar and
flour, nearly all of which have to be imported, has also surged.
Africa is now a major oil producer but the explosion in the cost of
crude to over 100 dollars a barrel has backfired on poor populations
who depend on public transport to get around congested African
capitals.
In Guinea, where the government could no longer subsidise
petrol-reliant services, prices have shot up by 61 percent, halting
buses and taxis. In Guinea-Bissau, fuel prices have gone up
eight-fold due to shortages.
Senegalese economist Moustapha Kasse said the rise in global oil
prices and rapid urbanisation in Africa explains why demand for food
and fuel has shot up. To meet the crisis, the governments of
Cameroon, Senegal and Ivory Coast have suspended value added tax
(VAT) on some key consumer products. Cameroon increased wages for
public workers, while Sudan increased subsidies for some foods and
Egypt suspended rice exports for six months.
The African Finance ministers predicted in a report that African
economies would grow by 6.2 percent in 2008, despite poor
infrastructural development, price increases and political
instability.—AFP
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