Cairo’s nightlife has gone dark. To conserve energy, the government has ordered cafes, shops and restaurants to close at 9 p.m., and streetlights have been switched off. Ahmed Kamaly, an economics professor at the American University in Cairo, says the curfew has been a shock: Egyptians who normally stay out until midnight suddenly lost key income hours. The early closures have cost businesses lucrative evening trade and pushed thousands toward unemployment.
Those local disruptions are part of a much wider economic shock set off by the eight-week-old war in Iran. The blockade in the Strait of Hormuz has choked shipments that many countries in Africa and Asia depend on: oil and gas, fertilizer, food, medicines and other essentials. The stoppage has reduced manufacturing inputs and fuel supplies, disrupted trade routes and driven up costs for consumers across the Global South.
The effects reach beyond interrupted cargo. Many families rely on remittances from relatives working in the Gulf; with regional economies strained and jobs disappearing, those money flows are thinning. Currencies are weakening, inflation is accelerating, and unemployment is rising in multiple countries. As Kamaly warns, numerous indicators are already moving in the wrong direction because of the conflict.
Transportation and fuel shocks in Africa
Steven Were Omamo, Africa director at the International Food Policy Research Institute, describes the crisis moving through three channels that squeeze household budgets: higher fuel prices, rising transport costs and then higher food prices. Across Africa, basic mobility has become more expensive and less predictable. People are paying more for car, bus and plane travel, and fear of shortages has prompted panic buying. Omamo notes many are stockpiling fuel; he says he personally bought and stored extra diesel on his farm in anticipation of shortages.
Apprehension and supply chain stress in Asia
In Southeast Asia, public anxiety is persistent. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies in Bangkok, says the news of the conflict hangs over daily life and elevates stress. In Thailand, authorities have encouraged energy-conserving measures — including working from home and using stairs instead of elevators — echoing pandemic-era adjustments. Thailand also plays a regional role as a fuel reseller: it imports oil from the Gulf and supplies neighbors such as Laos, which now faces precarious access to petrol.
Fertilizer shortages are hitting rice-producing countries hard. Farmers in the Philippines and Vietnam have planted less amid limited fertilizer availability, raising the risk of lower yields. The U.N. World Food Programme warns that if the conflict continues, as many as 45 million people worldwide could fall into acute food insecurity.
Adding pressure in Somalia
Somalia’s situation is particularly fragile. Shukri Abdulkadir of the International Rescue Committee points to overlapping crises: political instability, repeated terrorist attacks that have displaced millions, and nearly two years of poor rains. Those conditions already weakened food security; interruptions to shipments from Dubai caused by the Gulf blockade — affecting staples such as rice, flour, cooking oil, sugar and powdered milk — are making matters worse.
A long recovery ahead
Mirette Mabrouk, an economic development expert at the Middle East Institute, warns that even a quick peace deal would not reverse the damage immediately. Energy-price rises and trade disruptions have already set off a chain of effects that can take months to unwind, she says. Damage to Gulf energy infrastructure and the time required to restore shipping and supply chains mean households will continue to feel the strain: higher prices, fewer jobs and reduced access to food and fuel.
The war in Iran is no longer confined to the region. Its economic ripples are changing everyday life from Cairo’s dimmed streets to farms in Vietnam and markets across Africa — and the consequences will take time and coordinated policy responses to mend.