Africa food security under threat due to Iran war, trade officials warn

Doha, Qatar – African countries are feeling the economic fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with rising fuel and fertiliser rates threatening to drive up food costs, according to trade ministers from the region and the United Nations' top trade official.

Key points

• Against the backdrop of the simmering trade war between the US and China, Harare considers itself a potential partner to investors from either side, Mutsvangwa stated.
• For both Uganda and the Republic of Congo, building resilient economies additionally means investing in younger generations.
• But the country has not been insulated from financial pressures: its currency has lost 10 percent of its value against the US dollar, the minister remarked.
• As well as its tourism potential, the official pointed to Zimbabwe's deposits of more than 60 critical minerals, including lithium and graphite.
• The Strait of Hormuz's disruption has rippled through African economies.

For context, the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz due to the United States and Israel's war on Iran needs to be resolved "sooner rather than later", Luz Maria de la Mora, director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), informed Al Jazeera at the World Investment Forum on Monday. She cautioned that soaring fertiliser costs could affect harvests next year.

"Prices of fertilisers have risen dramatically. So many countries have decided to reduce the use of fertilisers, which will have an effect next year in terms of crops, " she remarked.

"It may have an effect on availability of food and prices of food."

Notably, the US-Israel war on Iran has highlighted the world's heavy reliance on the strategic waterway, through which one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade previously passed.

Against this backdrop, Doha hosted UNCTAD's World Investment Forum on October 25 and 26, bringing together heads of state, policymakers, CEOs and investors to discuss global investment and sustainable development.

Notably, the Strait of Hormuz's disruption has rippled through African economies. In Zimbabwe, rising fuel and fertiliser rates are a critical concern in a country where more than 70 percent of the population depends on agriculture, Monica Mutsvangwa, the country's minister of women affairs, community, small and medium enterprise development, informed Al Jazeera.

Uganda, another heavily agrarian economy, has additionally been hit, with fuel costs more than doubling, Sanjay Tanna, the country's minister of trade, industry and cooperatives, informed Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, the impact extends beyond the immediate cost of energy. Rising oil rates have disrupted supply chains, with effects lasting longer than anticipated, according to de la Mora.

"The effects are lasting longer than we would have expected or would have wanted, " she remarked. 'Friend to all, enemy to none'.

For context, the shock has additionally exposed differences in how African economies weather global disruption.

Uganda's reliance on subsistence farming has supported cushion the impact, with domestic food production offering some protection from international market volatility, stated Tanna.

But the country has not been insulated from financial pressures: its currency has lost 10 percent of its value against the US dollar, the minister remarked. The Ugandan shilling has steadily declined since mid-2026.

For Zimbabwe, the crisis has reinforced the importance of attracting investment while maintaining economic ties throughout geopolitical divides.

"We are a friend to all and an enemy to none, " she remarked.

"Funds has no color. If we obtain an investor who comes into our country, follows the rules and regulations of the country, makes his capital, and Zimbabwe develops, that's what we want."

As well as its tourism potential, the official pointed to Zimbabwe's deposits of more than 60 critical minerals, including lithium and graphite. Trade in an unequal system.

But attracting foreign capital remains a challenge for developing economies, with investment concentrated in a relatively small number of countries.

That concentration is "very understandable", de la Mora remarked, arguing that investors need confidence that their capital will generate returns.

"Capital is risk averse. Capital needs to have certainty that its investment is going to yield returns and it's going to come to fruition, " she remarked.

Governments can support build that confidence through transparent institutions, the rule of law and investment in infrastructure, including reliable electricity, energy supplies and digital connectivity, she went on.

Notably, the question of whether the international trading system treats all countries equally prompted a more blunt assessment from Uganda's trade minister.

"Of course not, " remarked Tanna. "The world cannot be equal. It's unfair, but we believe that, within the space that we are in, we are in a good space."

Since it produces its own food – an advantage at a time when international supply chains are under pressure, uganda was well placed for the future, he argued.

For context, the Republic of Congo's Deputy Prime Minister for Coordination, Development Infrastructure and Land Planning, Jean-Jacques Bouya, remarked the country had aligned its national development plan, Vision 2063, with the African Union's broader development ambitions.

Connectivity – through electricity, digital infrastructure and physical links – is central to that strategy, he informed Al Jazeera.

In practice, the Republic of Congo additionally wants to expand local processing so that more value from its natural resources remains within the country.

"Africa can no longer be a reservoir of raw materials, and neither can Congo – a place where raw materials are extracted, taken elsewhere, processed and then sold back to us at a much higher cost. We cannot go on like this, " Bouya remarked.

In short, africa food security under threat due to Iran war, trade officials warn is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.