It is an African archipelago made up of 115 islands off the Indian Ocean. Seychelles has a population of about 91, 000 people. It spent 3.8 percent of its budget on its military in 2015. Its was formed military in 1977 and is one of the smallest armies in the world. Its military consists of the army, Coast Guards, Air Force and a paramilitary unit. The Coast Guards and Air Force conduct anti-drug search missions, rescue operations and fight piracy, which is the island’s biggest challenge.
It is an African island. Madagascar is the fourth biggest island in the world. It has a population of 21.9 million people. In 2015, it spent 3.8 percent of its budget on its 21,600 servicemen and women, both in active service and active reserves. During the year, the Madagascar army carried out a five-month pacification operation in the southern region. At least 160 people were killed in the operation against rustlers. The civil society criticized the operation and the army chief, General Beni Xavier Rasolofonirina admitted that the military committed blunders leading to the massive loss of lives.
It is the biggest economy in Africa. Nigeria has a population of 167 million people. It has 130, 000 active servicemen and women and 32,000 in its active reserves. It spent 3.6 percent of its budget on the military in 2015. The little spending on its military was a surprising because the country has been fighting Boko Haram, one of the deadliest militant Islamist groups in the world. President Muhammadu Buhari sacked the heads of military in early 2015 for failing to end the Boko Haram insurgency in Africa’s most populous nation.
It is a landlocked kingdom inside South Africa. Lesotho has a population of 2.2 million people. In 2015, it spent 3.4 percent of its budget on military. Women only serve as commissioned officers. In February 2016, Southern African Development Community declared that the army chief, Tlali Kennedy Kamoli must be fired in order to end the political crisis that has plagued the kingdom. The crisis was caused by the assassination of the former chief of staff of the Lesotho armed forces, Lt-General Maarparankoe Maho, by soldiers.
Mozambique is found in Southern Africa, with a population of 24.5 million people. It is one of Africa’s poorest nations in the world. In 2015, it spent 2.7 percent of its budget on the military. It formed the Armed Formed for the Defence of Mozambique in August 1994. It has 11,200 active servicemen and women in the military. Since October 2015, the military started an operation to disarm militias allied to Mozambique National resistance, the main opposition party, in Tete Province. At least 6,000 people have fled to neighboring Malawi since the operation started. Human Rights Watch accused the army of sexual abuse, summary executions and ill-treatment of the locals in carrying out the operation.
It is a landlocked country in Southern Africa with a population of about 16 million people. It spent 2.4 percent of its budget on the military in 2015. In February 2016, there was resentment within the Malawi Defence Force over government’s decision to give exclusive military training to ordinary police officers as part of their professional development.
It is a West African country that is rich in gold, cocoa and oil. It is one of the most stable multi-party democracies in Africa. Ghana has a population of 25.5 million people. It spent 2.0 percent of its budget on the military in 2015. It has 13,500 active servicemen and women. In 2015, it dismissed 500 recruits from Army Training School at Shai Hills for misconduct. They had held an unauthorized assembly in the school, protesting that the training was strenuous.
