As Algerians continue to suffer in long queues for basic goods, the military regime in Algeria has allocated its defense department a bloated budget of 21.6 billion dollars in 2024, up from 19 billion this year. The army thus widens the gap with other departments as the largest spending sector, mirroring its position as a kingmaker in a country with a civilian presidential façade. The West has deterred Algeria from sealing large scale armament deals with Russia casting a shadow of doubt on last year’s spending. With the largest defense budget in Africa, Algeria took half of Russian arms sales on the continent. Keeping up with Morocco is now a thing of the past as the North African Kingdom widened the armament quality gap with Algeria, including through sealing alliances, mainly with the US.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 12, 2023 17:10 UTC