Rabat – The Russia-Ukraine war’s domino effect on the global economy have had a disproportionate effect on the world’s poorest countries, a recent report from the Policy Center for the New South confirmed.
The report, titled “Aftermath of War in Europe: The West VS. the Global South?,” goes into how countries in the Global South have dealt with the successive global crises from the past few years.
Most notably, Western sanctions on Russia have unleashed a sequence of impacts that hit the poorest countries the hardest, especially as they emerged from a difficult crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, the World Bank estimated that developing countries increased their debts by at least 45% to manage the health crisis and its effects, by adding to already unsustainable finances.
Since then Zambia, Mali, and Sri Lanka defaulted on their sovereign debts, causing a lack of trust among investors and other actors, while other countries remain on the brink of similar situations of an economic collapse.
The economic effects of the successive global events can explain developing countries’ resistance to supporting sanctions against Russia which several countries have declined to implement.
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While Western countries remain determined to counter Russia’s operation, getting developing countries on their side will be crucial as they continue to represent a huge share of global resources.
For those countries, the ideal course of events would be an end to the war and a return to global stability to allow them to recover, the report notes.
The new alliances and stances arising under these circumstances could accelerate a change in international structure, the report’s authors posit.
Notably, the war caused fuel prices to skyrocket, and also had a great effect on the prices of some essential food items. The increased prices have put additional pressure on people around the world, especially in countries that were already struggling.
