Policy in Context: Africa’s Cost of Living Crisis

Join us for the next installment in our Policy in Context Series, which will focus on the confluence of factors that have resulted in an increasingly worrisome cost of living crisis across much of sub-saharan Africa. According to the IMF, food and energy costs account for the bulk of rising inflation in sub-Saharan Africa, due in part to disruptions to supply chains caused by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, weakened currencies, and unsustainable public debt servicing obligations. These issues, exacerbated by a sluggish recovery from COVID-19 lockdowns and climate factors have contributed to increased rates of financial and social insecurity particularly among youth, women, and vulnerable populations. Uzochukwu Alutu, Mayeni Jones, and Immaculata Abba will lend their expertise to helping us understand what individual or household expenditures factor into cost of living estimates, and what kinds of policy interventions would most effectively ease the burden on citizens. Their conversation will be moderated by Temi Ibirogba of The Africa Center.

The discussion will examine how businesses and households are adapting to make ends meet, as well as the impact of present-day challenges on countries’ long term economic and social agendas. Panelists will also reflect on complex questions of sovereignty as it relates to African countries’ inability to decisively influence many of the factors contributing to this crisis. In a geopolitical order where the interests of African countries are of relatively little consequence to the biggest questions, how can governments make their critical food and energy systems less vulnerable to circumstances over which they are able to exert little influence?