African countries could benefit from $4 billion recently approved by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to deal with the impacts of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

"Africa's Ukraine crisis adjustment trade finance program (UKAFPA) aims to adjust the cost of financing to help countries meet immediate import needs in the face of rising prices while domestic demand adjusts," reads the statement sent to Lusa.

In addition, the program announced by Afreximbank also aims at financing the repurchase of oil and metals, a stabilization of export revenues from raw materials, and financing the tourism slump.

Russia and Ukraine play a key role in supplying the world's food and energy chain. The crisis has led to a wave of crisis of their raw materials around the world.

African economies have been one of the hardest hit, especially those that rely heavily on imports of grain, fertilizer, fuel and other raw materials.

"UKAFPA is a response to urgent requests from member states for emergency intervention by the bank, whose requests for funding already exceed $15 billion," reads the statement, which notes the "urgency in responding to these requests to avoid catastrophic social conditions across the continent and reduce the risk of them evolving into political challenges."