UN urges Africa to swap commodities for tech

DAKAR, July 17 (AFP): The UN's trade body said recently African economies were vulnerable to a triple shock as it urged governments to pave the way for tech startups that would ease dependence on commodities.

"A recent analysis by the UN Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance, which analyses the global economic cost by the war in Ukraine, indicates that Africa and especially sub-Saharan Africa is now one of the world's most exposed regions to the current crisis," Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said at the launch of the body's latest Africa report.