POOR African countries could see the puny benefits from aid packages and debt relief wiped out by the latest increase in oil prices, according to the World Bank.
While some African countries such as Nigeria, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea, as oil exporters stand to gain from the increase, others including South Africa face a sharp increase in import bills.
The 20 countries of East and Southern Africa face a massive 60 percent increase in their oil bills, from $9 billion in 2003 to $15 billion in 2004.
Other estimates suggest a sustained $10 per barrel increase in oil prices could reduce the GDP of the most indebted countries of Africa and Asia by 1.5 percent. that there are currently 1.5 million refugees. These statistics though are dwarfed by the number of casualties in recent internal conflicts in the nearby Congo where even the most conservative estimates place the number of casualties in the region of two million.
There have been international declarations of genocide or of a humanitarian crisis in the Congo in recent times. The majority of the population of Darfur (about 67 million people are Muslim African farmers, but they co exist with a minority of Muslim Arab nomads who lead a pastoral existence.
Part of the reason behind the conflict between the two groups has been the expansion of the Sahara desert leading to both diminished water resources and arable land as a result of desertification.
The Arab-dominated Sudanese military government has nevertheless played a role in exacerbating the conflict to its own advantage in an attempt to 'Arabise' Darfur
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