<\/p>\n
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said fuel-price increases varied substantially across countries because of differences in taxes, subsidies, exchange rates and domestic pricing policies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Diesel prices in Nigeria increased by about 83% between late February and the end of August, compared with 9% in Ireland.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Petrol prices rose by approximately 51% in Myanmar but only 3% in Sweden.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brent crude increased from about $70 a barrel in January to more than $120 in March after the Strait of Hormuz was closed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The maritime route ordinarily carries about one-fifth of global oil supplies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Prices declined between April and June as diplomatic negotiations progressed but rose again after talks collapsed and fighting resumed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oil futures indicate that prices could remain elevated until the end of 2026, maintaining pressure on businesses and households through increased fuel and transport bills.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Higher fuel prices also affect people who do not buy petrol or diesel directly because transport costs are passed through to food and other essential goods.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Previous research involving developing economies found that a $0.25 increase in fuel prices per litre could reduce average household purchasing power by more than 5%.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fuel-importing countries face particularly serious risks because higher oil prices increase foreign-currency requirements and weaken external balances.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Net fuel imports were equivalent to one-quarter of Cabo Verde\u2019s gross domestic product in 2023 and nearly one-fifth of Lebanon\u2019s.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As fuel bills increase, governments and businesses have less money available for food, medicine, machinery and other imports.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Governments already facing high debt and constrained budgets also have limited capacity to provide subsidies or other protection to households.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UNCTAD called for more diversified energy systems and greater investment in affordable renewable power to reduce vulnerability to future geopolitical shocks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Renewable sources such as wind and solar cannot be depleted and are not directly exposed to disruptions affecting international fossil-fuel shipping routes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
More than 90% of new renewable-energy projects are cheaper than the least expensive new fossil-fuel alternatives, according to UNCTAD.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Expanding renewable power could therefore strengthen energy security, reduce import dependence and protect developing economies from future commodity-price shocks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":36273,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-50085","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Developing economies are bearing the brunt of soaring oil prices after war closed the Strait of Hormuz, driving up transport costs, inflation and financial pressure.","published_date":"","news_description":"Developing economies are bearing the brunt of soaring oil prices after war closed the Strait of Hormuz, driving up transport costs, inflation and financial pressure.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50087,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50085\/revisions\/50087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=50085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}