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Rabat – A new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) identified Morocco and Algeria as the largest military spenders in North Africa.
The report said military expenditure in Africa reached $51.6 billion in 2023, representing 22% increase compared to 2022.
Military expenditure in North Africa increased by 38% compared to 2022, with Algeria and Morocco together accounting for 82% of North African military expenditure last year.
The report also said Algeria’s military spending increased by 76% to reach $18.3 billion, while Morocco’s military spending decreased for the second consecutive year, falling by 2.3% ($5.2 billion) by 2023.
“Commenting on Algeria’s military spending increase, SIPRI said that this development is attributed to a sharp rise in revenue from gas exports to countries in Europe as they moved away from Russian supplies.
A report in March from SIPRI ranked Morocco 29th among the 40 largest arms importers in the world, maintaining the same position it had in SIPRI’s previous report of 2023.
The US continues to maintain its position as the largest exporter of arms to Morocco with 69%, followed by France (14%), and Israel (11%). Algeria is in the 21st rank compared to its previous position of 18 in the previous report last year.
Russia maintains its top position as the largest exporter of arms to Algeria with 48%, followed by Germany (15%), and China (14%).
SIPRI’s April report also included data on military expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa, where the spending reached $23.1 billion last year. This represents an 8.9% increase compared to 2022.
The rise in 2023 can be attributed to the 20 per cent increase in spending by Nigeria, the report said, identifying the Western African country as the subregion’s biggest military spender.
Nigeria’s military spending was $3.2 billion last year, including a supplementary budget to boost the regular military budget by an additional 34%.
“The latest increase in Nigerian military spending comes against the backdrop of numerous ongoing security challenges,” the report added.
