Senegal bans ministers from foreign travel as oil price rise bites

Government ministers in Senegal have been banned from all non-essential foreign travel following the rise in the price of oil resulting from the conflict in Iran, the prime minister has announced.

Speaking at a youth rally on Friday, Ousmane Sonko said that the current cost of a barrel of oil was approaching double what had been budgeted for.

Sonko has postponed his own trips to Niger and Spain as part of the restrictions. He said that the mines minister would announce further measures to curb government spending in the coming week.

Senegal's move is the latest response from the continent to the oil price rise, which has seen countries reducing fuel levies and rationing electricity.

In his speech to young people, the prime minister said he did not want to "frighten" his audience or put pressure on them. Instead, he wanted to give them a "sense of this world, which is a difficult world", but added that though things were hard the Senegalese were resilient.

Despite a fledgling oil and gas industry, Senegal relies heavily on importing fuel.

Last year, the International Monetary Fund described the economy as "robust" with a growth rate of almost 8% and low inflation.

But its public debt – standing at more than 130% of the total annual size of the economy - is high. Sonko, installed as prime minister two years ago, blamed the previous government for saddling his administration with the debt, which he said had made the current situation of dealing with the price of oil even more difficult.

Elsewhere on the continent, this week South Africa's government responded to the rising oil price by reducing the tax it charges on petrol in an effort to limit the increase of the cost of fuel at the pumps.

Fuel shortages in Ethiopia have forced some government institutions to send employees on annual leave. South Sudan has started to ration electricity in its capital, Juba, while Zimbabwe is increasing the ethanol content in its petrol.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran has also led to a restriction of the supply of fertiliser to the rest of the world. An estimated 30% of this essential farming input goes through the Gulf.

Humanitarian organisation the International Rescue Committee warned on Wednesday that this was a "food security timebomb", particularly for East Africa which relies on fertiliser imports from the Middle East.