KEY POINTS
- Africa accounted for just 4.5 percent of global arms imports in 2024 and 2025, against Europe’s 48.2 percent.
- Nigeria’s arms imports dropped from 93 million units in 2024 to just 21 million in 2025.
- Retired security officials are calling on Nigeria to invest in domestic weapons production.
Africa’s share of global arms transfers is so small that the numbers raise a direct question about the continent’s capacity to fight the terrorism, insurgency, and transnational crime tearing through its communities, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The Africa arms imports SIPRI figures, published in March 2026, show that Africa accounted for just 4.5 percent of global arms imports across 2024 and 2025, measured by the volume of international transfers of major weapons systems including sales, military aid, and licensed production. Europe, by comparison, absorbed 48.2 percent of global transfers over the same period, driven heavily by the Ukraine war and Western rearmament.
Africa’s biggest importers still lag far behind global leaders
Nigeria’s position within those numbers is stark. The country recorded a combined import volume of 114 million across both years, representing 0.2 percent of global transfers. More concerning, Nigeria’s annual figure collapsed from 93 million units in 2024 to just 21 million in 2025, a drop that landed against a backdrop of active Boko Haram and ISWAP campaigns in the Northeast, bandit violence across the Northwest and North Central, and growing separatist pressures in the South.
Across the continent, total arms imports reached 3.095 billion in volume terms. Egypt led with 825 million, followed by Morocco at 522 million and Algeria at 313 million. Ethiopia, Sudan, and Nigeria trailed considerably behind the top three. Angola, Kenya, and Mauritania each contributed roughly 0.2 percent of global imports.
The global picture shows the scale of the gap. Ukraine alone absorbed 7.605 billion, representing 12 percent of total global imports, while Poland recorded 3.711 billion and Germany 1.872 billion. The United States led global exports at 28 billion, covering 43 percent of all transfers, with France at 5.8 billion and Russia at 4 billion.
Experts push for domestic production
Retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police Wilson Inalegwu said the Africa arms imports SIPRI data should jolt Nigeria into building its own defence manufacturing base rather than deepening reliance on foreign suppliers.
“If this continues, it means we can just be cut off one day. Let us look inward, develop our steel sector, and invest in science and technology. That is what will give us the edge,” he said. He also argued that modern warfare rewards innovation over firepower, noting that smaller countries with strong technology bases were already outmanoeuvring larger adversaries.
Retired Commissioner of Police Lawrence Alobi echoed the urgency. He warned that Nigeria’s currently peaceful relations with neighbouring countries should not lull the country into complacency. “We need to equip our security agencies considering the global trend. Wars are everywhere, and we must be well-prepared because we cannot predict what will happen tomorrow,” he said, adding that adopting advanced surveillance and operational technology would add measurable value to ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
