Many weeks ago as the sanctions accelerated, I wrote “It is a big irony: Putin will sell less oil compared to the level before the invasion of Ukraine, but may make more money in the end. By reducing supply via sanctions, and demand still rising, ceteris paribus, countries like …Russia will see more digits in their bank accounts.”
Yes, as the price of oil rises, markets move and economies are rattled. And this is not ending since the war in Ukraine has moved to a stable state which may last months, if not years. Apple has even become a victim as Saudi Aramco has overtaken it: “Saudi Aramco has surpassed Apple to become the world’s most valuable company once again, following the recent rise in oil price that has been largely spurred by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”
Many families have been overtaken by hunger, undue inflationary pressure, etc, and we cannot throw a baby away with the bathwater. Helping Ukraine must not bring pain to all nations and I seek for a better strategy because bad things are brooding. I call on the African Union to show leadership urgently. If not, we may fight wars of extreme hunger in coming months, even with no visible military tanks on African streets.
The United States and EU have just confirmed that reality: Russia is generating more revenue now than pre-war level – and that money, unlike in the past, is kept in the central bank of Russia’s vaults, not in the UK, New York, etc. Own-goal for the world of sanctions? Very complicated.
But one thing is evident – sanctions do not pause economic theories that if supply is reduced as demand increases, price will move north, for most products. So, if these sanctions are making Russia richer, what next? Is the world scoring an own-goal?
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I write because Africa is fighting a war of hunger right now and the world must consider that fact.
Russia may be getting more revenue from its fossil fuels now than shortly before its invasion of Ukraine, as global price increases offset the impact of Western efforts to restrict its sales, U.S. energy security envoy Amos Hochstein told lawmakers during a hearing on Thursday.
“I can’t deny that,” Hochstein told the Senate Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation in response to a question about whether Moscow was making more money now off its crude oil and gas sales than a couple of months before the war started.
Saudi Aramco Overtakes Apple As the World’s Most Valuable Company
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What we can do? Let’s clear the lands and farm at scale, while building storage facilities simultaneously, most staples can be ready within four months. As for security, do you know how bullion vans are guarded here? That is how we should be guarding the farmlands, because they are our national treasures right now. Move most of the security personnel to the farmlands, to keep 24/7 watch over them; we don’t have time for more pitiful stories.