Do African Governments Favor Defense in Budgeting?

Abstract

This article uses a methodology developed by Hicks & Kubisch and data from a sample of forty countries to investigate the dynamics of defense budgeting in Subsaharan Africa during the 1967-87 period. We find that African countries discriminate against defense in budgeting when budget resources are increasing. On the other hand, they favor defense in budgeting during periods of austerity. This pattern of budgeting increases the defense burden and budget shares in African countries at times when the general population is least able to shoulder such a burden, and hence the need to reallocate defense spending is greatest. We also find that African governments consistently favor defense in the allocation of foreign exchange. The pattern of defense budget allocation in Subsaharan Africa neither varies among the four geographical regions of Subsaharan Africa - West, East, Central and Southern - nor among the oil exporters and the foreign exchange constrained oil importers. This inability to decrease defense spending during periods of austerity implies that those interested in changing budgetary priorities should have to rethink the concept of defense and hence redefine defense in African societies. African defense forces may have to be redirected to be used for development purposes rather than as a fighting organization. This will decrease the conflict between the fiscal needs to decrease defense spending and the reality of inability to do so. Such a reorientation of the military will also reduce the conflict between high defense spending and long-term development in Subsaharan Africa.