Dar es Salaam, June 24 -- THE Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil passage, often seems a distant concern for African economies. Yet, as geopolitical tensions simmer in the Middle East, their ripple effects threaten a fiscal firestorm across Africa, potentially pushing national budgets to their breaking point.

This isnt hypothetical; converging forces of global energy volatility, escalating debt, inflation, and soaring borrowing costs are visibly evident, demanding urgent attention from policymakers.

A comprehensive look at key macroeconomic indicators for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the last decade and a half reveals a perilous trend as illustrated in the accompanying chart. Global Brent Crude Oil Price, a direct igniter of econom...