The Sahel and parts of east Africa face a range of jihadists. Coastal states have seen piracy, most recently in the west.
Offshore discoveries of oil and gas have increased the need for maritime
security. More traditional threats, internal as well as external, persist in
countries such as South Sudan
The Nigerian army, one of the biggest in Africa and the
government has just decided to spend $1 billion on new aircraft and training,
among other things. Across Africa military spending grew by 8.3%, according to
the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), faster than in
other parts of the world (see chart). Two out of three African countries have
substantially increased military spending over the past decade; the continent
as a whole raised military expenditure by 65%.
Angola's defence budget increased by more than one-third in
2013, to $6 billion, overtaking South Africa as the biggest spender in
sub-Saharan Africa. Other countries with rocketing defence budgets include
Burkina Faso, Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The continent's
biggest spender by far is Algeria, at $10 billion.
Ethiopia last year took delivery of the first of about 200
Ukrainian T-72 tanks. Neighbouring South Sudan has bought about half as many.
Coastal states such as Cameroon, Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania are sprucing
up their navies. Angola has even looked at buying a used aircraft-carrier from
Spain or Italy. Chad and Uganda are buying MiG and Sukhoi fighter jets.
Cameroon and Ghana are importing transport planes to boost their ability to
move troops around and deploy them abroad, which they have been ill-equipped to
do. For peacekeeping duties they generally ask friendly Western governments for
help in airlifting troops, or charter civilian planes. Chad makes good use of
its Sukhoi SU-25 jets--with the help of mercenaries. On the other hand,
Congo-Brazzaville only manages to get its Mirage fighter jets into the air for
national-day celebrations. South Africa bought 26 Gripen combat aircraft from
Sweden but has mothballed half of them because of budget cuts. Uganda spent
hundreds of millions of dollars on Sukhoi SU-30 combat aircraft but little on
the precision weapons to go with them. Sophisticated arms have also fall into
the wrong hands; witness the array of Libyan weapons that have fuelled conflicts
across Africa, from Mali to the Central African Republic, since the fall of
Muammar Qaddafi.
Many African nations are participating in a growing number
of African Union and UN peacekeeping missions. Once rarely seen in blue
helmets, sub-Saharan soldiers are increasingly replacing troops from Europe and
Asia, benefiting from training as well as from reimbursements for purchases of
weapons. A new "business model" for African defence ministries is
taking shape.
"Even small countries like Benin and Djibouti now field
respectable forces," says Alex Vines of Chatham House, a think-tank in
London.
A number of countries hope to foster defence manufacturing
at home. A huge South African purchase of arms from, among others, Germany and
Britain, agreed to more than a decade ago, included promises of
"offsets" whereby local firms would help assemble jets and ships.
Angola plans to build its own warships. Nigeria and Sudan make ammunition. Four
European arms manufacturers set up African subsidiaries this year: Antonov is
going into Sudan; Eurocopter is in Kenya's capital, Nairobi; Fincantieri, an
Italian shipbuilder, is in the country's main port, Mombasa; and Saab is
setting up a plant for its military aircraft in Botswana.
Since the anti-colonial guerrilla wars of the past century,
most African conflicts have been internal. Few countries previously had the
ability, let alone the inclination, to fight their neighbours. In the late
1990s, several countries, including Angola and Zimbabwe, sent forces to take
part in Congo's civil war--to little avail. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought each
other in 1998-2000. Tanzania sent its army into Uganda, along with guerrillas
returning from exile, to overthrow Idi Amin in 1978. In general, however, few
disputes between African countries have been liable to spark wars. But the
build-up of beefier armies is bound to carry a risk.
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