Global inflation pushes millions of Africans back into poverty

Jadson Mankwala has been hit so badly by rising prices that he has been reduced to scavenging twigs for firewood, no longer able to afford the small plastic bags of charcoal for sale in the Malawian city of Blantyre.

“I’m struggling to buy energy to cook at home, so I have gathered wood,” said the unemployed 39-year-old, a few thin branches under his arm.

The Ukraine conflict, combined with currency depreciations triggered by rate…