In brief
Senegal has instituted a ban on non-essential foreign travel for its ministers due to the sharp increase in oil prices linked to the Iran conflict. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko revealed that the current oil price is nearly double what was anticipated in the national budget. He plans to unveil further austerity measures to address the fiscal challenges stemming from high public debt and the heavy reliance on fuel imports.
Government ministers in Senegal have been banned from all non-essential foreign travel following the rise in the price of oil resulting from the conflict in Iran, the prime minister has announced.
Speaking at a youth rally on Friday, Ousmane Sonko said that the current cost of a barrel of oil was approaching double what had been budgeted for.
Sonko has postponed his own trips to Niger and Spain as part of the restrictions. He stated that the mines minister would announce further measures to curb government spending in the coming week.
Senegal's move is the latest response from the continent to the oil price rise, which has seen countries reducing fuel levies and rationing electricity.
In his speech to young people, the prime minister said he did not want to 'frighten' his audience or put pressure on them. Instead, he wanted to give them a 'sense of this world, which is a difficult world', but added that though things were hard, the Senegalese were resilient.
Despite a fledgling oil and gas industry, Senegal relies heavily on importing fuel.
Last year, the International Monetary Fund described the economy as 'robust' with a growth rate of almost 8% and low inflation.
However, its public debt stands at more than 130% of the total annual size of the economy. Sonko, installed as prime minister two years ago, blamed the previous government for saddling his administration with the debt, which he said had made the current situation of dealing with the price of oil even more difficult.
Elsewhere on the continent, South Africa's government has responded to the rising oil price by reducing the tax it charges on petrol in an effort to limit the increase of the cost of fuel at the pumps. In Ethiopia, fuel shortages have forced some government institutions to send employees on annual leave, while South Sudan has started to ration electricity. Zimbabwe has chosen to increase the ethanol content in its petrol.
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the US-Israeli war on Iran has also restricted the global supply of fertilizer, with an estimated 30% passing through this crucial waterway. The International Rescue Committee warns this could pose a significant threat to food security, especially in East Africa, which heavily relies on fertilizer imports from the Middle East.
