Africa ‘taken hostage’ by Russia’s invasion, Zelensky says

A shopkeeper sells wheat flour in the Hamar-Weyne market in Mogadishu, Somalia (AP)

The Ukrainian president has told the African Union that the continent has been “taken hostage” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid catastrophically rising food prices.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s closed-door speech followed weeks of requests for him to address African nations.