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Stalled Taxis, Postponed Weddings: War in Iran Hits African Families

The money to pay for it just isn’t there. Mr. Kazembe, 28, said his typical daily earnings of... Malawi’s government announced in April that it had completely run out of fuel reserves and...

NYTIMES 입력 2026.04.30 18:06 0

Stalled Taxis, Postponed Weddings: War in Iran Hits African Families

War in the

Middle East

U.S.-Iran Talks

Israel-Lebanon Truce

Strait of Hormuz

Enriched Uranium

Timeline of War

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Stalled Taxis, Postponed Weddings: War in Iran Hits African Families

Despite the fragile cease-fire in the Middle East, many Africans say they are bracing for tougher times ahead and making difficult decisions about the future.

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A girl using a solar-powered light to study during electricity rationing in Juba, South Sudan, last month.

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Jok Solomun/Reuters

John Eligon

Golden Matonga

and

Matthew Mpoke Bigg

John Eligon reported from Johannesburg, Golden Matonga from Lilongwe, Malawi and Matthew Mpoke Bigg from Nairobi.

April 30, 2026,

5:04 a.m. ET

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As the globe convulses over the economic fallout from the war in Iran, many African nations say the ripple effects of the conflict are exacerbating longstanding challenges at home, like the lack of manufacturing on the continent and its heavy reliance on imports and foreign investment.

The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz has sent fuel prices skyrocketing. Global shipping has been pushed to a breaking point, limiting access to medicine, fertilizer and other major commodities. President Trump’s tariffs and the withdrawal of U.S. foreign assistance had already set many African economies back.

Analysts say Africa is particularly vulnerable to such external shocks because of its longstanding dependence on goods produced elsewhere. “We as a continent need to focus on internal resilience,” said Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, the chief executive of the Africa Private Capital Association.

Despite the fragile cease-fire between the United States and Iran, many Africans say they are bracing for tougher times ahead. They are making difficult calculations about how much to feed their families, whether to plant crops, how to pay for transportation and how to manage shortages.

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Spraying crops ahead of a harvest near Lichtenburg, in the North West Province of South Africa, last month.

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Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

The unwed taxi driver

Francis Kazembe, a taxi driver in the Malawian capital of Lilongwe, made the difficult decision to postpone his wedding in May, he said. The money to pay for it just isn’t there.

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