• United States led arms exports to Africa with 19% share

• African arms imports fell 41%, mainly due to Algeria drop

• Sub-Saharan imports rose 13%, led by Nigeria, Senegal, Mali

The United States was the top arms supplier to Africa between 2021 and 2025, according to a report published Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The report, titled Trends in International Arms Transfers 2025, includes only major weapons systems such as aircraft, air defence systems, armoured vehicles, missiles, ships and satellites.

The United States accounted for 19% of the continent's imports during the period, ahead of China (17%), Russia (15%) and France (8.3%).

Over the past five years, imports of major arms by African countries fell 41% compared with the 2016–2020 period, driven largely by a sharp drop in purchases by Algeria, historically the region's largest importer. Algeria's arms imports declined 78% compared with the previous five-year period. Despite that steep fall, the country ranked 33rd among global importers, behind Morocco (28th).

Morocco's arms imports rose 12% compared with 2016–2020, representing 1% of global imports versus 0.9% previously. Algeria, which accounted for just 0.9% of global imports, is generally secretive about its arms acquisitions. Several unverified reports pointed to contracts with Russia during the 2021–2025 period, suggesting available data may be understated, according to SIPRI.

Sub-Saharan Imports Up 13%

Africa as a whole accounted for 4.3% of recorded global arms imports over the past five years, compared with 33% for Europe, 31% for the Asia-Oceania region, 26% for the Middle East and 5.6% for the Americas. Sub-Saharan African countries represented 2.2% of total global imports, and their combined imports rose 13% compared with the 2016–2020 period, SIPRI said.

The three largest buyers were Nigeria, which accounted for 16% of the region's imports, followed by Senegal (8.8%) and Mali (8.0%). China, which supplied major weapons to 23 sub-Saharan African states, accounted for 22% of the region's imports. Russia followed at 12% and Turkey at 11%.

Globally, the volume of arms transfers from 2021 to 2025 rose 9.2% compared with 2016–2020, driven largely by a surge in European imports, which jumped 210%. The world's top arms exporters over the five-year period were the United States (42%), France (9.8%), Russia (6.8%), Germany (5.7%) and China (5.6%). The five largest importers were Ukraine (9.7%), India (8.2%), Saudi Arabia (6.8%), Qatar (6.4%) and Pakistan (4.2%).

Walid Kéfi