The Strait of Hormuz crisis is escalating, with oil prices rising again Monday as tensions between Iran and the United States remain unresolved. UN Secretary-General António Guterres is urging a peaceful resolution, warning of the widening fallout across Africa and beyond.
Speaking in Nairobi ahead of the Africa Forward Summit, Guterres stressed that the Middle East emergency is no distant crisis. Roughly 13 percent of Africa's imports of oil and fertilizers move through the key waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the wider world.
"My strong appeal is for the negotiations to go on until that diplomatic solution is found, the ceasefire to be maintained, and in between, the Strait of Hormuz to be completely open," Guterres said. "Any restart of the fighting would have terrible consequences."
The price of urea-one of the world's most widely used fertilizers-has risen more than 35 percent in a month at the height of planting season. Guterres warned that without fertilizers, the world risks a serious food security problem next year. Many African nations are still waiting for agricultural inputs from the Gulf, while Kenya, whose planting season is mostly over, is in a less vulnerable position.
Guterres also unveiled new UN offices at the UN Office at Nairobi and attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a new conference facility.