Economy and integration ministers of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, say most of their 55 million civilians live in abject poverty that has only been made worse by the last few years of global troubles.
President of CEMAC Daniel Ona Ondo, who was born in Gabon, said Russia's invasion of Ukraine is the latest in a series of global disasters to impact the region. Before Russia's invasion of its neighbor, Central African states' imports from Russia and Ukraine accounted for 60 percent of their fuel and 80 percent of their wheat.
CEMAC says the war caused a sharp increase in prices that member states paid for fuel and fertilizers and added pressure on the region's farmers, who were already struggling from conflict and climate shocks.