The North Africa Journal | April 27, 2017: Despite severe economic performances affecting the countries’ revenues, North Africa, including the Sahel, witnessed an increase in military expenditure in 2016, growing 2.2% to US$ 21.264 billion versus 2015. The figures are at constant 2015 prices and exchange rates, with data gathered by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Despite accounting for less than 8% of the region’s military spending, the biggest year-on-year spending growth came from the combined expenditures of the Sahel nations of Mali, Chad and Mauritania. In line with the region’s average growth, Algeria upped its spending by 2.3% to $10.654 billion, maintaining its share of regional spending at 50.1%. In contrast, Egypt, a country that used to have substantial leadership position in terms of military spending in the 1980s and all the way into the mid-1990s, saw its 2016 military spending shrink by 2.2% to settle at $5.3 billion, or 25.2% of regional spending.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 27, 2017 20:15 UTC