Russian Sanctions Could Disrupt Arms Sales to Morocco and Africa

Africa could find itself unable to import Russian weapons due to the exclusion of certain Russian banks from the SWIFT interbank network, analyzes The Conversation. It could also have difficulty maintaining Russian military equipment. Nearly half of Africa’s imports of military equipment (49%) - including major weapons (battle tanks, warships, fighter jets and combat helicopters) and light weapons (pistols and assault rifles such as the new AK-200 series Kalashnikov rifle) - come from Russia.

The countries that could be affected by the situation are the largest buyers of Russian armaments - and the oldest importers. These are Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco and Uganda. Between 2016 and 2020, Russia held a 20% market share in Africa, behind the United States (37%) and ahead of France (8.2%), Germany (5.5%) and China (5.2%).

The suspension of Russia from global financial systems will disrupt arms sales to these various countries. This situation presents risks for the African continent. These risks are the insecurity of the supply of essential spare parts, the disruption of operational and training plans for defense forces using Russian equipment, and the high cost of maintaining equipment already deployed in operations. But the current situation presents opportunities for African countries. They could turn to their own defense industrial capabilities to fill the void, turn to alternative suppliers, etc.