- According to the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia was the largest supplier of weapons for African countries for the period ranging from 2017-2021.
According to the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia was the largest supplier of weapons for African countries for the period ranging from 2017-2021.Russia accounted for 44% of imports of major arms to the continent followed by the US (17%), China (10 %) and France (6.1 %).
That explains why 17 African countries abstained from voting at the UN General Assembly that passed a resolution to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February this year. Of the 35 countries that abstained from the UN vote to condemn Russia, half were African.
The SIPRI data also reported a general decline in spending on defence by the African governments primarily due to a drop in imports by Algeria and Morocco—the two largest arms importers in the region. During the period reviewed, Algeria with its huge defence budget of $9bn- $10bn for years accounted for 44% of total African arms imports .Russia has been a regular supplier of Russian Su-30MK fighter-jets to anti- tank missiles and Kilo-class submarines to Algeria. Analysts say that due to terrorist threats from Libya and Mali, and historical tensions with Morocco compelled Algeria to keep aside a huge budget. Countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, have also lowered almost 35 per cent arms imports in 2017–21 than in 2012–16, the SIPRI data shows
SIPRI data indicates that during 2017–21, the five largest African arms importers were Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mali and Botswana. Nigeria, Ethiopia and Mali have diversified their defence supplier base. Nigeria has been fighting Boko Haram, Ethiopia has been at war with its Tigrayan region while Mali has gone through a series of coups. The SIPRI report observed that aircrafts were Russia’s main arms export in the last five years accounting for 48 % of its total arms exports.
Read Also; https://trendsnafrica.com/russia-ukraine-war-and-its-fallout-on-africa/
