Africa: How the Middle East War Is Impacting Humanitarian Aid to Africa

Since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, disrupted trade routes have caused delays to the delivery of medicines and other humanitarian aid to crisis zones such as Sudan and Mali.

The Strait of Hormuz, which links Dubai to Port Sudan on the eastern coast of Africa, is a vital transit point for the delivery of medicines to the continent.

But this key waterway has been effectively blocked by Iran in retaliation to US-Israeli strikes which began on 28 February, with only a limited number of ships allowed through.

In recent weeks, goods have had to be diverted via the Cape of Good Hope and once they reach the West African coast, they are transported by road.

“For the few ships that are still sailing, this detour comes at a very high cost,” explains Rodrigue Alitanou, a doctor and director of operations at the Dakar-based NGO Alima which provides emergency care in 13 countries in Africa.

“It adds more than €2,000 to the cost of each container. So this has an impact not only on our delivery delays, but also on the number of beneficiaries we can treat,” he told RFI.

Fuel prices

Another source of pressure on the NGO’s financial resources is the rise in fuel prices due to worldwide shortages.

“Today, the price of a litre of petrol has risen by 40 percent on average across the countries where we operate,” says Alitanou.

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As a result, the overall cost of humanitarian operations has risen, as is the case in Sudan, for example.

“Today, the cost has almost tripled for every lorry that reaches us,” laments Haruna Tarfa, the NGO’s medical coordinator in Tawila, North Darfur, where more than 630,000 displaced people live.

“In the coming days, we risk running out of maternal kits and general medicines. This also affects the malnourished children we are treating who need medication.”

‘Accessibility is already a challenge’

Sudan is one of the crisis zones where logistical difficulties are exacerbated by the international context.

“In North Darfur, accessibility is already a challenge,” explains Tarfa.

“We have very limited options when it comes to getting medicines to people. With the current events, the impact will be such that it will be very difficult for us to adapt.”

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The same fear is being expressed in Mali, where the NGO has already had to scale back its activities.

With the embargo on fuel imports imposed by the JNIM jihadists, “dozens of villages no longer have access to healthcare because we can no longer get around,” explains Alitanou.

If the international situation does not improve within the next three months, the NGO says it will be forced to scale back its activities significantly.

According to a report released on Saturday by the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Middle East war “presents a serious risk to Africa.”

The Middle East accounts for 15.8 percent of Africa’s imports and 10.9 percent of its exports, the report noted.

Potential food disaster

“The conflict, which already has triggered a trade shock, could quickly turn into a cost-of-living crisis across Africa through higher fuel and food prices, rising shipping and insurance costs, exchange rate pressures, and tighter fiscal conditions,” it added.

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