External military engagement with Africa, in one picture.
The African External Security Engagement Observatory (ASEO) integrates arms transfers, armed conflict, arms embargoes, foreign military bases, defence-cooperation agreements and governance into a single country-year record of who arms African states — and under what conditions — between 2000 and 2025.
Key findings
from the full 2000–2025 panelEgypt takes a third of everything
One state receives 33.3% of all delivered volume; with Algeria and Morocco, the top three take 69%. African arms imports are a North-African story.
Russia's collapse after 2019
Russia led the market for two decades, then its share of deliveries fell from 41.6% in 2015–19 to 15.1% in 2020–25.
France's decade-long surge
From a marginal supplier in the early 2000s to 16–18% of deliveries since 2015 — propelled above all by Egyptian and Moroccan orders.
Türkiye is the new entrant
From a negligible position to 23 recipient states and 4.2% of deliveries in 2020–25, backed by 11 defence pacts and two bases.
The big picture
2000–2025 · all 54 statesMajor-weapon deliveries to Africa climbed through the 2010s and peaked in 2016, even as armed-violence fatalities mounted — a market dominated by a handful of supplier blocs and heavily concentrated in the continent's north.
Arms deliveries & conflict, 2000–2025
Continental SIPRI TIV (filled area, left axis) against ACLED political-violence fatalities (dashed line, right axis)
Who supplies Africa
Supplier-bloc share of total delivered TIV
Where the arms go
Delivered TIV by sub-region
The regional lens
delivered TIV by UN sub-region · 2000–2025The continental total hides five very different markets. Each card aggregates the region's members from the same panel — its share of all deliveries, its delivery rhythm over time, and who dominates it.
Designed by
