Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
Nigeria’s military spending rose by 20 per cent to $3.2 billion in 2023, making it the country the biggest spender on defence in sub-Saharan Africa, and the third highest on the entire continent, a new report has revealed.
The report further revealed that the global military spending also totalled $4.443 trillion with Algeria leading other African countries during the year under review.
According to the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), military expenditure in Africa stood at $51.6 billion in 2023, representing 22 per cent higher than in 2022 and 1.5 per cent above that of 2014.
SIPRI monitors developments in military expenditure worldwide and maintains the most comprehensive, consistent, and extensive publicly available report on military expenditure.
The latest report indicates that military expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa reached $23.1 billion in 2023, about 8.9 per cent higher than the expenditure in 2022 but 22 per cent lower than in 2014.
The report attributed the rise in Nigeria’s military expenditure in 2023 to the 20 per cent increase in spending by Nigeria – the sub-region’s biggest military spender.
It also noted increases in spending by several other countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan.
At $28.5 billion in 2023, military expenditure by North African countries was up by 38 per cent from the figures recorded in 2022, and by 41 per cent from 2014.
Algeria and Morocco were by far the largest spenders in that sub-region, together, accounting for 82 per cent of North African military expenditure in 2023.
Algeria’s military spending grew by 76 per cent to reach $18.3 billion, the highest level of expenditure ever recorded by the country and the largest annual increase in its spending since 1974.
The increase was facilitated by a sharp rise in revenue from gas exports to countries in Europe as they moved away from Russian supplies.
Although Morocco was the second largest military spender in North Africa and the continent as a whole, its military spending decreased for the second consecutive year, falling by 2.5 per cent in 2023 to $5.2 billion.
The SIPRI report showed that Algeria posted the highest military spending in Africa at $18.2 billion, followed by Morocco with $5.1 billion in overall military expenditure in 2023.
Nigeria placed third overall in Africa and first in sub-Saharan Africa as the highest military spender with $3.2 billion, followed by South Africa with $2.781 billion, and Angola with $1.27 billion; Ethiopia ($1.227 billion), Tunisia ($1.2 billion), South Sudan ($1.076 billion; Kenya and Uganda with $999 million and $977 million, respectively.
The report indicated that overall, world military expenditure increased for the ninth consecutive year in 2023, reaching a total of $2.443 trillion.
The 6.8 per cent increase in 2023 was the steepest year-on-year rise since 2009 and pushed global spending to the highest level SIPRI has ever recorded.
The world military burden – defined as military spending as a percentage of global gross domestic product (GDP) – increased to 2.3 per cent in 2023.
Average military expenditure as a share of government expenditure rose by 0.4 percentage points to 6.9 per cent in 2023 and world military spending per person was the highest since 1990, at $306.
SIPRI noted that the rise in global military spending in 2023 could be attributed primarily to the ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating geopolitical tensions in Asia, Oceania and the Middle East.
Military expenditure went up in all five geographical regions, with major spending increases recorded in Europe, Asia and Oceania, and the Middle East.
The five biggest spenders in 2023 were the United States, China, Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia, which together accounted for 61 per cent of world military spending.
The United States and China remained the top two biggest spenders in the world and both increased their military spending in 2023.
US spending was $916 billion while Chinese spending was an estimated $296 billion.
Russia’s military spending grew by 24 per cent in 2023 to an estimated $109 billion.
This was equivalent to 5.9 per cent of Russia’s GDP.
Ukraine became the eighth largest military spender in 2023, increasing its spending by 51 per cent to $64.8 billion, or 37 per cent of GDP.
In 2023, military expenditure by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member-states reached $1.341 trillion or 55 per cent of the world’s spending.
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