As the Russian/Ukraine war continues, food security around the world remains a real threat, but some countries have it worse than others.

In Africa, food insecurity has increased by over 60% since the Russian invasion began, affecting the price of food made with staple ingredients like flour, wheat, sugar, salt and oil. If you eat bread as most people do, you would find that the price has doubled over the past few months of the year.

 According to data from Trade Map, the continent’s biggest sources of wheat used to make bread, are Russia, France and Ukraine. It is estimated that Russian and Ukrainian wheat imports account for 30% of all African wheat consumption, while the figure is closer to 80% in Egypt.

While some countries like Egypt can boast of a stockpile of wheat that can last them for up to 9 months, other countries might not share the same prospect and as can already be seen, prices of bread have already gone up in some countries, while others have reported shortages of the staple food.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics in Nigeria, the price of bread (500g) jumped from 42% between 2017 and Q1 2022 to 50% in Q2 2022, while in Ghana, openly-sourced data showed that the price of bread moved from 5 Ghana Cedis for a loaf (500g) in 2017, to 10 Ghana Cedis for the same size in 2022, indicating a 100% increase.

Here is a list of 5 African countries where a loaf of bread (500g) is the most expensive to buy in 2022:

• Nigeria: A loaf of bread (500g) costs an average of 800 Naira in Nigeria.
• South Africa: A loaf of bread (500g) costs an average of 14.26 Rand in South Africa
• Ghana: A loaf of bread (500g) in Ghana goes for 10 Ghana Cedis
• Mauritius: A loaf of fresh bread (500g) goes for an average price of 28.14 Mauritian Rupee
• Egypt: A loaf of fresh white bread (500g) goes for an average price of 10.73 Egyptian Pound