Rolling out the big guns

Namibia remains among the world's highest spenders on the military as a percentage of its GDP, with the country spending N$5.7 billion in 2017 or N$2 054 per person in the country on its armed forces. Figures indicate that Namibia is the second highest spender on its military as a percentage of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa, at 3.4%, with only Congo, at 6.2%, spending more. Namibia has however made spending cutbacks and has this year been highlighted as one of the top ten countries globally with the biggest decreases when it came to its military spending from 2016 to 2017. This is according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's (Sipri) military expenditure project, which aims to study issues relating to transparency and accountability in military budgeting, spending and procurement. In its 2017 analysis, it said Namibia decreased its spending on military by 11% from 2016. Spending was decreased with about N$400 million to N$5.7 billion in 2017. Data shows that military spending in Namibia has over time increased from N$2.8 billion in 2007 to about N$6.1 billion in 2016, accounting for 3.9% of the country's GDP at that time. Namibia's military spending as a percentage of GDP came under Sipri's attention in 2015 when the country was highlighted as having the eighth highest increase in spending geared towards its military. “Namibia's military expenditure spiked by 200%,” Sipri said at that stage. It uses the American dollar in its analysis and an average exchange rate for the specific year being measured. In its estimations, 2014 was selected as the base year. Namibia's military spending amounted to 4.4% of its GDP in 2015 and 4.1% in 2014. The fact that Namibia was one of 20 countries that had a big military, relative to its size, was highlighted by the institution, while it also pointed out the country is also unique because it is not involved in any wars. It found that in 2007 military spending in Namibia stood at US$203 million and this increased to U$312 million by 2013, while it was the highest in 2015 at US$540 million and slightly dropped in 2016 to US$500. Namibia's defence budget shows similar trends, with an allocation of N$1.3 billion in 2007 that skyrocketed to N$6.6 billion in 2016. Sipri said military expenditure in Africa decreased by 0.5% in 2017, the third consecutive annual decrease since it peaked in 2014. “Despite three consecutive years of decreases, military expenditure in Africa was still 28% higher in 2017 than in 2008.” Furthermore, military expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa was U$$21.6 billion in 2017, up 0.9% from 2016, but 6.8% lower than in 2008. Comparing military spending in Namibia to other African countries in 2017, indicates that South Africa spent US$3.618 billion, Angola US$3.062 billion Botswana US$531.2 million, Zimbabwe US$340.5 million and Zambia only US$339.7 million. World military expenditure was estimated to have reached US$1739 billion in 2017, the highest level since the end of the Cold War, Sipri said. The United States, China and Saudi Arabia are the biggest military spenders in the world, while China made the largest absolute increase in spending (US$12 billion) in 2017. Seven of the ten countries with the highest military burden are in the Middle East: Oman (12% of GDP), Saudi Arabia (10% of GDP), Kuwait (5.8% of GDP), Jordan (4.8% of GDP), Israel (4.7% of GDP), Lebanon (4.5% of GDP) and Bahrain (4.1% GDP). Where possible, Sipri military expenditure includes all current and capital expenditure on a country's armed forces, including peacekeeping forces, by its defence ministry and other government agencies engaged in defence projects. Spending on paramilitary forces, when judged to be trained, equipped and available for military operations, is also included. Excluded military-related expenditures include civil defence, current expenditure for previous military activities, veterans' benefits, demobilisation, the conversion of arms production facilities and destruction of weapons.ELLANIE SMIT

Rolling out the big guns

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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Rolling out the big guns

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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