DEPENSES MILITAIRES ET ACTIVITES ECONOMIQUES EN AFRIQUE SUB-SAHARIENNE

Abstract

This paper analyses the relationship between military spending and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the paper calculates the contributions of military spending on variables related to the economic attractiveness of developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The analysis carried out using a vector autoregression model in panel data and over the period 1995 to 2015, reveals a unidirectional relationship from economic growth to military spending. The results also show that military spending has no effect on foreign direct investment and financial flows of tourism. On the other hand, the latter influence the level of military spending. The absurdity of this situation is that military spending is a major drain on economic activity. As a recommendation, the article proposes as solutions, the professionalization of armies, the quality of human resources enrolled in the arms profession, added to institutional quality to enable military spending to sustain economic growth.