Rabat – Morocco’s military expenditures remained unchanged in 2022 compared to 2021, new data from a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has shown.
The report, published by SIPRI in April, shows that Morocco’s military spending totaled $5 billion in 2022.
Algeria’s military expenditures dropped by 3.7% in 2022, the report noted.
A report by the same institute had reported last year that Algeria’s military expenditure dropped 6.1% in 2021 to reach $9.1 billion.
“Algeria and Morocco together accounted for almost three quarters (74 per cent) of military spending in the [North African] subregion,” the report explained, adding that the combined expenditure of countries in sub-Saharan Africa amounted to $20.3 billion last year.
As for the continental military spending, Africa’s military expenditures reached $39.4 billion in 2022.
SIPRI acknowledged that the dispute over Western Sahara is of major influence on Morocco’s and Algeria’s military expenditures.
“The territorial dispute between the two countries related to Western Sahara, which is often a major influence on their military spending policies, continued in 2022,” SIPRI said.
Algeria and Morocco share decades’ worth of tension due to the dispute. Algeria’s regime backs, finances, arms, trains, and hosts the Polisario Front which challenges Morocco’s territorial integrity. The separatist group claims independence in Western Sahara.
In addition to the regional dispute, the two countries’ tension escalated in recent years after accusations from Algeria against Morocco.
In 2021, Algeria unilaterally severed diplomatic ties with Morocco, accusing Rabat of being behind wildfires in the Kabylie region.
The unproven accusations, which were denied and rejected by Rabat, came amid a series of dialogue initiatives from Morocco’s government and royal cabinet to find a political solution to end the stalemate affecting the whole region.
Where global military expenditures are concerned, the US, China, Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia were listed as the five countries with largest military expenditures in 2022.
Morocco and Algeria were listed among the 40 largest major arms importers in 2022.
A 2023 SIPRI report published in March ranked Morocco as the 29th largest arms importer worldwide, with Algeria coming in at 18th.
The US is the main supplier of arms to Morocco, with the North African country importing 76% of its arms from Washington.
About 15% of the country’s military equipment was imported from France and 6.8% from China.
Algeria, meanwhile, imported 73% of its arms from Russia in 2022, followed by Germany (10%) and France (5.2%.)
