Algeria second customer for French arms’ supplies at the cost of 273 million Euros

Algeria has acquired during the last four years more than 273 million Euros in advanced French weapons’ supplies, while neighboring Morocco acquired during the same period nearly three times as many purchases made by Algeria, at a time when French President Francois Hollande’ strenuous efforts to convince Algeria to purchase a sizable batch of the sophisticated French “Rafale” military aircraft are coming to the fore.

According to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), arms purchases by Morocco accounted for 26 per cent of the continent’s overall imports between 2005-2009 and 2010-2014. Morocco is preceded by Algeria, the largest arms importer in Africa, with 30 per cent of imports and Sudan (6 per cent).

The kingdom’s arms imports increased elevenfold, says the report. Morocco received 1 frigate from France, the country’s first arm supplier, for an estimated 470 million Euros. Morocco’s weapons imports also come from other countries mainly, the United States, Italy and Germany.

Morocco’s neighbor to the east Algeria managed to increase its arms imports by 3 percent between 2005-2009 and 2010-2014. Major deliveries to Algeria included 1 helicopter carrier from Italy, the last batch of 48 air defense systems from Russia and an estimated 50 self-propelled guns from China.

The report added that Algeria has several major outstanding arms orders. These include orders placed in 2014 for 2 submarines and 42 combat helicopters from Russia and 926 APCs from Germany.