Kenya's military expenditure (Sh bn)
Military expenditure as a share of government spending was 4.63 percent
4d agoRosa MumanyiInfographics
Kenya has emerged as Africa's second-largest importer of major conventional weapons following a dramatic rise in military acquisitions.
Latest data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reveals that Kenya’s arms imports surged by 516 percent, climbing from 19 million Trend-Indicator Value (TIV) in 2024 to 117 million TIV in 2025.
This massive spike places Kenya just behind Morocco, which leads the continent with 392 million TIV in 2025, down from 130 million TIV in 2024.
Algeria ranks third, recording 108 million TIV in 2025 compared to 205 million TIV in the previous year. Other notable importers on the continent include Angola, which rose from 16 million TIV in 2024 to 84 million TIV in 2025, and Mali, which saw an increase from 25 million to 64 million TIV.
The report also shows Ethiopia importing 63 million TIV, up from 25 million, while Sudan recorded 57 million TIV in 2025, up slightly from 50 million in 2024.
The Democratic Republic of Congo registered 44 million TIV, up from 40 million, while Burkina Faso’s imports dipped slightly from 37 million in 2024 to 34 million in 2025.
South Africa completed the top importers list with 30 million TIV recorded for 2025.
SIPRI's Trend-Indicator Value is a unique pricing system designed to measure the transfer of actual military capability and technical sophistication, rather than the financial or commercial value of the arms agreements.
