Commodities & Energy

In May 2021, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) report Net Zero by 2050 stated that there is no need for new investments in oil and gas fields in their net zero pathway[1]. The message was clear: place your next investments in clean energy sources and energy efficiency. However, the IEA’s Africa Energy Outlook 2022 stated that Africa’s industrialisation relies in expanding the use of natural gas[2]. Even the IEA executive director Fatih Birol said, “if we make a list of the top ...

L’invasion russe de l'Ukraine a incité l'Union Européenne, en coordination avec d’autres puissances mondiales, à monter en urgence une réponse coordonnée de sanctions sans précédent. La plus emblématique d'entre elles est l'embargo partiel contre le pétrole et autres produits raffinés russes, qui signifie en essence la transition du commerce pétrolier d’une logique économique vers une logique géopolitique. D'où la montée en flèche des cours du pétrole et d'autres matières premières. ...

Avant la pandémie Covid-19, le continent abritait les économies à la croissance la plus rapide du monde et plusieurs pays africains montraient les premiers signes de transformation structurelle et de progrès vers l’émergence économique. Plus de deux ans après la pandémie et les ondes de choc qui en ont résulté, deux questions cruciales se posent : dans quelle mesure le choc sanitaire Covid-19, exacerbé par la crise ukrainienne, a-t-il constitué un tournant dans le processus général ...

The world is facing its worst food crisis in 70 years as a perfect storm of geopolitical events contributes to a spike in prices. Wheat alone has jumped 53% since the start of the year. Alarmingly, a number of governments have responded to the crisis with export bans. Governments and organizations worldwide must act decisively to avoid knee-jerk neo-mercantilism, which would add to the volatility in the global economy. Globalization is at a fragile moment, and mercantilism still lur ...

Oil dominates Nigeria’s economy- “Africa’s Giant”. Oil revenues are both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because they are the single most important contributor to government revenues; a curse because, through the Dutch Disease, they undermine the productivity and competitiveness of other non-oil sectors, primarily agriculture and agri-processing; and manufacturing, two major sources of non-oil employment and incomes. Since Nigerian governments did not try to counter the Dutch Dis ...

Avec 38 % des réserves gazières mondiales, la Russie est un acteur majeur du marché mondial du gaz. Aussi, son invasion de l’Ukraine et les sanctions qui l'accompagnent vont désorganiser ce marché. L'objet de cette étude est d'analyser les conséquences de cette désorganisation pour l'Afrique, en distinguant le marché mondial du gaz naturel (I) de celui du marché du gaz africain (II), et ce avant la crise ukrainienne. Ce qui nous conduira à tirer les conséquences et les enseignements ...

The world food price index collected for the last 60 years by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hit its highest record in March, declining gently in April. Pandemic, war and death in Ukraine, and droughts in the last 2 years… Such a combination looks apocalyptical. Now it is adding global hunger risks, because of the food price crisis. The rise in global food prices started in mid-2020 because supply chain disruptions triggered food stockpiling. Mobility r ...

Pursuing efforts to decarbonize economies and increase energy systems’ resilience is crucial to stay within global warming limits and fight the consequences of climate change, which are becoming increasingly acute. The transition to a net-zero economy will be commodityintensive and require significant quantities of critical minerals, defined as metals and nonmetals essential to high-tech sectors. As the shift to cleaner technologies progresses, supply of critical minerals for the en ...