Ghana and other African nations will feel the impact of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, and ignoring it would be a grave mistake, according to Dr. Alex Vines, Research Director of African Programmes at Chatham House.

Speaking on PM Express with Evans Mensah on Tuesday night, Dr. Vines warned that the violence in the Middle East is not just a regional crisis—it’s a global shock with real consequences for Africa.

“It impacts supply chains. It impacts the price of oil. It impacts the price of gold,” he said.

“It disrupts travel. So if Ghanaians are going through the Middle East on travel, that will be disrupted.”

His comments come just days after Israel launched its long-threatened strikes on Iran, targeting military and government sites.

The attacks reportedly killed senior Iranian commanders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the strikes will continue “as long as necessary.”

Dr. Vines stressed that the ripple effects are already being felt.

“Flights that go near Iran at the moment or near Israel are being disrupted. So Ghana is struck,” he said. “The African continent is not immune by any means to what’s going on in the Middle East.”

Asked directly by the host why Ghana should care, Dr Vines said the reasons are clear and urgent.

“This plays—it overlaps—with all the conflicts that we’ve also seen elsewhere. The Ukraine-Russia one is also one that has inflated the price of commodities,” he explained. “That has also impacted the price of fuel, which you mentioned.”

He pointed out that the global economy is deeply interconnected, and Ghana is part of that network.

“We are interconnected. And so Ghana can’t ignore this. As I can’t in my own country, here in the UK.”

According to Dr. Vines, the takeaway is simple but sobering: “Ghana is not insulated. It is exposed. And it must prepare.”