Corn flour, rice, sugar, oil, tomatoes, beer… everything increases. Congolese households, three-quarters of whom live below the poverty line, are worried about the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine. In Bukavu, in one of the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo affected for more than 25 years by violence by armed groups, the fear of a devastating social crisis adds to the problems of insecurity. January Mizo Kabare, president of the League of Consumers of Services in Congo-Kinshasa (Licoski), claims to have alerted “the authorities of the dizzying rise in food prices on the markets of Bukavu”, source of “great social unrest”.
“Let the authorities see what they can do, otherwise we will starve!”
Pascaline Buhume, food sellerat AFP
On the Feu Rouge and Nyawera markets in the capital of South Kivu, a 50-kilogram bag of sugar that cost 43 dollars recently is trading at 60 dollars today, she laments. A 20-litre can of oil has gone from 30 to 45 dollars, a 25-kilo bag of rice from 18 to 25 dollars. “A bread that cost 1,000 Congolese francs (0.5 dollars) costs 1,200 FC (0.6 dollars)”, Madame Aimée, in her thirties, mother of five children is also alarmed.
January Mizo explains these increases by the rise in the price of fuel, which has “repercussions on transport and on the price of basic necessities”. the “average trade border price” (paid at the entrance of the country) went from 762.5 to 900.7 dollars for a tank truck, explains Urbain Kange, secretary of the Bukavu oil tankers club, where several stations are dry.
“We are making efforts, but our suppliers in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya tell us that there is a shortage at their level.”
Urbain Kange, secretary of the Bukavu Petroleum Clubat AFP
“Finding fuel becomes a headache”, confirms Jérémie Cito, taxi-motorcycle driver, who charges 1,000 FC for a short trip against 500 before (0.5 against 0.25 dollar). The problem also stems from the fact that the province “totally dependent on imports”, adds Paulin Bishakabalya, economic operator and member of the Federation of Congo Enterprises (FEC). Yet, he says, “rice, wheat, corn, oil…“ could be produced locally.
Because of the war between Russia and Ukraine, two major grain exporting countries, “orders placed by merchants are not honored”, emphasizes Paulin Bishakabalya, while “some operators are holding back stocks, waiting to see how the global market will evolve”. “This also drives up prices,” he says. According to him, “The government should act urgently”, by promoting domestic production and rehabilitating roads to allow the flow of products to the cities. “The provincial governor has brought together economic operators so that they do not exaggerate the rise in prices”, indicates Eninga Abwe, head of office at the foreign trade division in Bukavu, adding that control visits were planned on the markets.
Price increases are reported in other Congolese markets, inside the country and in the capital Kinshasa. During the last council of ministers, the members of the government were invited to take the necessary measures to mitigate the impact of the war in Ukraine on the national economy. The DRC has gigantic mineral resources and millions of hectares of arable land but, according to the World Bank, more than 70% of its approximately 90 million inhabitants live on less than $1.90 a day, a level set as a threshold. international poverty.
The war in Ukraine is also an assault on the world’s most vulnerable people and countries.
Food, fuel & fertilizer prices are skyrocketing – hitting the poorest the hardest and planting the seeds for political instability and unrest around the world.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 15, 2022
(Translation : “Food, fuel and fertilizer prices are soaring, hitting the poorest hardest and sowing the seeds of political instability and unrest around the world.”)
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned against “a hurricane of famines”. In total, he said, 18 African countries and least developed countries import at least 50% of their wheat from Ukraine or Russia. The DRC is one of them.