New funding priorities and approaches to resourcing African militaries are required

The latest report by Think Security Africa focuses on military finance and steps needed to prevent a serious readiness crisis within African militaries.

Ready to Serve: Financing African Militaries and Securing Readiness, charts nine key changes in Africa’s national defence environment, and explains how this is translating into new budgetary priorities, as well as finance and administrative challenges. The key findings of the report, which uses infographics and maps as visual aids, is that new funding priorities and approaches to resourcing African militaries are required. This is to ensure that African militaries retain and develop the capacity to guarantee national defence.

Specifically, the report highlights the fact that 18% of African militaries are impacted by existential crises, and 35% are undertaking operations beyond normal peacetime activity. All this is occurring against a backdrop of increased budgetary uncertainty, mainly precipitated by the sharp drop in commodity prices.

“If the rise in military operations in Africa continues, alongside rising budgetary uncertainties, militaries and donors will likely have to change funding priorities to enhance the sustainability of operations. In addition to this, militaries will have to cooperate more closely on the administrative and operational levels, and defence contractors will likely have to amend the way they market and supply, “ says Adunola Abiola founder of Think Security Africa.

Ahead of reaching its ultimate conclusions, the report assesses and maps changes in Africa’s defence environment, and operational funding requirements. It proposes prescriptions designed to assist African militaries and their strategic partners to overcome the financial and administrative challenges in the way of improved military readiness in Africa. In particular it urges African militaries to consider joint procurement (at certain levels), and joint advocacy in order to remove debilitating administrative blocks.

Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Think Security Africa (TSA).