A new price surge is putting West African countries under pressure. These are the export restrictions decided by India, the world's largest rice exporter, which complicate supplies in West Africa

Rice prices have risen sharply in recent weeks. From 480 dollars (442 euros) per ton at the end of June, the price of rice rose to around 640 dollars. Indeed, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, over the last two years, the top 5 African importers of rice from New Delhi included only countries in the zone: Benin, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and Guinea.

Les données du ministère de l' Agriculture américain ( United States Department of Agriculture , USDA) indicate that Abidjan, of which India has been the main supplier since 2020, purchased more than 550,000 tons of rice from it out of a global import volume of 1.3 million tons during the 2020-2021 season, and nearly 400,000 tons out of a similar import volume over the period