How (why) did Morocco raise its military spending in 2021?

D.Annually, the envelope continues to expand. By 2021, the Kingdom will have committed $ 5.4 billion (or 53.3 billion dirhams) to military spending on its GDP. According to a recent report, the stock represents an increase of $ 4.8 billion (50.3 billion dirhams) in 2020, compared to similar expenditure of 3.1%. Goodwill At the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (CIPRI).

Most spenders in Morocco and Algeria, North Africa

The Swedish company insists it has no direct connection to the increase. “Chronic tensions between North Africa’s two largest spenders, Algeria and Morocco, escalate in 2021”. Military maneuver on the border, Affair Brahim vacated, The oasis of contradiction, GME cut, Allegations of wrongdoing against FARAgainst the backdrop of the Sahara, the year was marked by a severe situation on the Rabat-Algiers axis. The material was thus taken An open crisis This was and sometimes led to military conflict Breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two neighbors.

Paradoxically, despite its belligerent rhetoric, Algeria has slashed its budget for military spending by 2021: $ 9.1 billion, down 6.1%. Nevertheless, their share of the GDP has been reduced, with military spending by Morocco and Algeria in 2021 allowing them to punch in the club of countries allocating more than 4% of their GDP to these expenditures.

The gap between the two countries is significant: Algeria spends 5.6% of its GDP on military spending, ranking 4th^e With 4.2% of GDP spent on the same category before Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, Morocco leads the club behind Armenia. However, the upward trend of the military budget is not specific to Morocco.

Globally, Military spending has increased worldwide It will reach $ 2.113 billion in 2021, 0.7% higher than the previous year. “In 2021, military spending rose for the seventh year in a row, reaching $ 2.1 trillion. This is the highest number we have ever recorded”, Said Siberian researcher AFP Diego Lப்pez da Silva.

The first explanation for the displacement by hard force is that the outbreak of war in Ukraine has enabled many countries, especially European nations – even those who have declared themselves neutral – to strengthen their weapons and increase their budgets for defense.

An envelope that finances Morocco’s ambition

In the case of Morocco, the explanation can be found in the continuation of the plan to modernize the arsenal and increase the staff of the Royal Armed Forces (FAR).

Launched in 2012, the program will enable massive recruitment and funding increases for soldiers, maintenance and deployment of troops. Military serviceBut the purchase of sophisticated weapons.

Morocco has adopted a policy of diversification of suppliers of military equipment. Yes The United States and France still top the listThe kingdom seems to be increasingly returning to countries like Russia SignThe Turkey.

The normalization of relations with Israel helped the kingdom gain a technological lead: as soon as relations with the Jewish state resumed, the signing of two strategic agreements closed a military alliance. First, Gunmen from Israel Came to strengthen the FAR’s arsenal by providing sophisticated equipment.

To move from the status of an importer to the level of a manufacturer, the Kingdom also aims to create an arms industry on its soil for its internal consumption. Export industryWith an ecosystem based on the model of the automotive and aerospace industries.

To prepare the ecosystem for the implementation of this industrial project, The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the aviation industry was signed on March 23 in Rabat, Between the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Aerospace Industries (AI). The XXL envelope that supports this goal is far from shrinking.