African Arms Imports 2018-2022

African Arms Imports 2018-2022

 Source: The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published in March 2023 its “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2022” by Pieter D. Wezeman, Justine Gadon, and Siemon T. Wezeman.  

Between 2018 and 2022, Africa imported only 5 percent of global major weapons.  Imports of major arms by African states fell by 40 percent between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022 due mainly to decreases in arms imports from the two largest African importers: Algeria and Morocco.  States in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounted for 2 percent of total global imports of major arms in 2018-2022. The three largest importers in SSA were Angola, Nigeria, and Mali.  

The main suppliers to all of Africa in 2018-2022 were Russia, accounting for 40 percent of African imports of major arms, the United States (16 percent), China (10 percent), and France (8 percent).  Russia’s share of arms imports to Sub-Saharan Africa was 26 percent while China was second at 18 percent.