Sudanese Pres. Omar Al Bashir speaks to the military in Heglig, Sudan on April 23, 2012. AP photo. At top—Bashir during an African Union conference. African Union photo
Sudan
Sudan comes in second at $4.4 billion, a 35% surge in spending attributed to the increased fighting between the army and soldiers in the southern part of the country. Sudan becomes a third African country to increase spending in 2017 after Gabon and Benin. Mali and Burkina Faso also saw an increase in military spending.
In 2015, President Omar el Bashir stated that: “If 100% of the state’s budget was allocated to the army to secure the country, then that is still not enough.”
As of 2017, Sudan had an external debt of $51.1 billion.
