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North African countries are rushing to find new supplies of wheat to help keep rising food prices in check, as the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to hit the region.
With global supply chains already under strain due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a wheat-buying frenzy in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco – all of which depend heavily on imported wheat to feed their populations – lays bare the magnitude of the challenge governments face amid sharp rises in food prices.
The crisis was highlighted by the UN food agency, which this week predicted that poorer countries in northern Africa, Asia and the Middle East that depend heavily on wheat imports risk suffering significant food insecurity because of the war in Ukraine.
Ramadan, which will begin in the first week of April, threatens to compound the problem, with wheat consumption likely to rise as people in the region mark the holy month with traditional dishes.
Of the five nations in northern Africa, Egypt’s wheat predicament is perhaps the gravest.
The world’s largest wheat importer with a population of 102 million, Egypt relies on Russia and Ukraine for 80 per cent of its supply.
Egypt’s wheat is chiefly used to make the flatbreads provided for about 60 million citizens who are entitled to subsidised food.
The remainder of Egyptians eat so-called “free market” bread, the price of which has soared since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, in some cases by up to 50 per cent.
But they say the price of bread is only part of the problem.
“It is not just the bread whose price rose. The price of eggs, chicken, meat and wheat. They have all gone up,” said Suna Ahmed, 70, from Cairo. “Maybe it’s to do with Ramadan, but it was never so bad before.”
Those among the millions of Egyptians who rely on subsidised bread say they were already under pressure.
Fahd Hassan, 33, an office clerk from Cairo with three children, says the size of the loaf available on the food subsidy card has shrunk over the years, forcing him to sometimes supplement his ration with the more expensive variety on the free market.
“But it is not just about bread now. Everything has dizzyingly gone up. It’s a nightmare,” he said.
Mr Hassan is entitled to five loaves a day on his card, at 0.25 Egyptian pounds each.
On Sunday, Supply Minister Ali Moselhy said the government aimed to procure more than six million tonnes of local wheat during the harvest season, which starts in mid-April.
To encourage the sale of more wheat to the government, president Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Sunday ordered that “incentives” be offered to growers.
Egypt’s state grains buyer said this week that a previously contracted 63,000 tonnes of Russian wheat, and a similar amount of Ukrainian and Romanian wheat, was due to arrive in the country in days.
It received 63,000 tonnes of French wheat on March 8, and a similar amount of Romanian wheat on March 5, the state General Authority for Supply Commodities said.
Tunisia, Morocco and Libya also import much of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia. Algeria, Africa’s second-largest wheat consumer after Egypt, imports it mostly from France and Argentina.
In one supermarket in the Tunisian capital this week, the shelves had no flour or semolina, a staple used across North Africa in couscous dishes.
Store managers said the problem was “panic buying” rather than shortages.
Almost half of the wheat Tunisians use to make bread is from Ukraine. Authorities say Tunisia has enough supplies to last three months.
In oil-rich but war-racked Libya, about 75 per cent of the wheat comes from Russia or Ukraine.
Morocco also relies heavily on the two warring nations for supplies.
“There won’t be any shortages – wheat shipments regularly arrive at Algiers port,” said an Algerian harbour official who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Mustapha. For the past decade, Algeria has set the price of a French-style baguette loaf of bread at six US cents. The energy-rich nation now says it intends to scrap subsidies on basic goods.
Morocco has wheat stockpiles to cover five months of consumption, having received most of its orders from Ukraine before the start of the war, the head of the federation of industrial mill owners said.
Morocco’s procurement from Ukraine and Russia make up 25 and 11 per cent respectively of the country’s entire wheat imports. The North African nation is now looking to make up for the shortfall by buying more from France and looking to other countries, including Argentina, Poland and Germany, for supplies.
Morocco’s worst drought in 30 years, however, compromised this year’s harvest, leading traders to forecast much larger, and more expensive, imports.
Food prices are also surging in Libya, which imports about 75 per cent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine.
At a Tripoli wholesale market, shopper Saleh Mosbah blamed “unscrupulous merchants … They always wantto take advantage when there is a conflict.”
Shortages of staple commodities such as wheat could have political and security consequences in North Africa, where governments monitor price fluctuations closely, looking for any sign of ensuing popular discontent.
Hikes in the price of bread have often sparked unrest in the past.
In Sudan, a popular uprising initially sparked by an increase in bread prices in late 2018 soon morphed into demands for the removal of dictator Omar Al Bashir, who was ousted by his army generals in April 2019.
An attempt to remove bread subsidies in Egypt in 1977 led to deadly riots that forced president Anwar Sadat to back down.
Economic hardship, manifested by higher food prices, was also the cause or partial motive behind Arab uprisings in the past decade and more recently in Lebanon and Algeria.
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
World Cup warm up matches
May 24 Pakistan v Afghanistan, Bristol; Sri Lanka v South Africa, Cardiff
May 25 England v Australia, Southampton; India v New Zealand, The Oval
May 26 South Africa v West Indies, Bristol; Pakistan v Bangladesh, Cardiff
May 27 Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton; England v Afghanistan, The Oval
May 28 West Indies v New Zealand, Bristol; Bangladesh v India, Cardiff
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
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