Amid speculation that there could be a World War III following the spark of new conflicts like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many have been left questioning which African nation has the largest armed forces.
Between ongoing armed conflicts to building of defences preemptively, many countries have amassed significant militaries to date.
Using data from World Population Review, Business Insider Africa has put together a list of the top 10 African countries with the largest military personnel.
Which African country has the largest military?
Well, to answer that, we need to consider the three commonly measured categories of military personnel:
- Active military: Soldiers who work full-time for the arm
- Military reserves: People who do not work for the army full-time but have military training and can be called up and deployed at any moment
- Paramilitary: Groups that aren’t officially military but operate in a similar fashion, such as the CIA or SWAT teams in the U.S.
We can now mention the top 10 African countries with the highest total number of military personnel.
1. Egypt
Total personnel – 1.3 million
Active military: 438.5K
Paramilitary: 397K
Reserves: 479K
2. Algeria
Total personnel – 467.2K
Active military: 130K
Paramilitary: 187.2K
Reserves: 150K
3. Morocco
Total personnel: 395.8K
Active military: 195.8K
Paramilitary: 50K
Reserve: 150K
4. Eritrea
Total personnel: 321.8K
Active military: 201.8K
Paramilitary: 0
Reserves: 120K
5. Nigeria
Total personnel: 223K
Active military: 143K
Paramilitary: 80K
Reserves: 0
6. Sudan
Total personnel: 209.3K
Active military: 104.3K
Paramilitary: 105K
Reserves: 0
7. South Sudan
Total personnel: 185K
Active military: 185K
Paramilitary: 0
Reserves: 0
8. Ethiopia
Total personnel: 138K
Active military: 138K
Paramilitary: 0
Reserves: 0
9. DR Congo
Total personnel: 134.3K
Active military: 134.3K
Paramilitary: 0
Reserves: 0
10. Angola
Total personnel: 117K
Active military: 107K
Paramilitary: 10K
Reserves: 0
–Pulse Ghana–
