Which African countries have the largest fleets of military drones?

If military drones have always constituted a weapon for attacking specific targets and/or for eliminating wanted terrorists, it is above all the use of these devices during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020 which gave military drones, largely used by the Azerbaijani army against the Armenian army, their titles of nobility on a global level, while popularizing Turkish drones, including the famous Bayraktar TB2, and the Israeli IAI Harop.

Since this rapid war won by Azerbaijan thanks to drones, all countries are now banking on this weapon. The Russia-Ukraine war also confirmed the place of drones in the battlefields, pushing more and more countries to invest in these machines which serve a myriad of purposes: observation, intelligence, air strikes, artillery spotting, electronic warfare, resupply, kamikaze drones… Drones, once relegated to intelligence gathering missions, have become star players in wars and changed the character of modern conflicts to become weapons of choice for the world's armed forces.

On the African continent, there is a rush for drones. In 2020, the continent acquired 237 drones, the largest volume of machines ever acquired by countries on the continent. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, drone acquisitions covered volumes of 157 units, 171 units and 98 units.

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Over the 4 years 2020-2023, African countries acquired 663 drones, according to data from Databook Military Africa, an international media outlet that provides information relating to military and defense issues in Africa. And while a handful of countries had them before this war, now at least 31 countries on the continent have obtained these devices. Some for defensive reasons by strengthening their military arsenals, as is the case of North African countries (Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, etc.), others use drones in combat, this is the case of Ethiopia which succeeded in defeating the rebels of Tigray thanks to Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones, or fighting terrorists in the Sahel countries (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger) and in Nigeria.

In total, over the period from 1980 to the end of 2023, African countries had 1,530 units of military drones. Although more than 31 countries have drones, they are unevenly distributed between regions and countries. In terms of regions, North Africa, including Egypt, has the largest number of military drones.

The region has 818 drones, concentrating 53.32% of the continent's military drones, ahead of West Africa (338 drones, 22.03%), East Africa (218 drones, 14.21% ) and Southern Africa (160 drones, 10.43%).

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This high number of unmanned vehicles in North Africa can be explained by the enormous spending budgets of these countries, knowing that Algeria, Egypt and Morocco have the largest military budgets on the continent. Then, the proximity of conflict zones (Middle East and terrorism in Africa) and the tensions between certain States in the region, particularly between Morocco and Algeria, have contributed greatly to the frenzy of purchasing drones at the level of the region.

By country, Egypt is the African country with the most drones with 267 units at the start of 2024, ahead of Morocco (223 units), Nigeria (177), Ethiopia (126 units), Algeria (121 units), South Africa (98 units), Libya (87 units for both governments), Tunisia (59 units), Cameroon (49 units), Senegal (40 units) and Sudan (40 units).

The first five countries hold 60% (914 units) of the continent's military drones, which really indicates a high concentration of these devices in a handful of countries.

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It is also necessary to underline the diversity of drone models acquired by the States of the continent. If a very wide range of drone models is identified on the continent, overall three types remain the favorites of the States: the Turkish Bayraktar TB2, the Israeli Wander B and the Chinese Wing Loong I.

By suppliers, China is the leading supplier of drones to Africa with a total of 400 machines, or a market share of 26%, followed by Israel (309 units), the United States (227 units), Turkey (190 units), Iran (37 units), United Arab Emirates (32 units), United Kingdom (27 units), South Africa (20 units), France (18 units)… Chinese drones acquired by African countries essentially include three model ranges: Wing Long I, Wing Loong II and CH-3 Rainbow. Chinese domination is largely explained by their cost.

However, in recent years, Turkish drones, notably the versatile and cost-effective Bayrakter TB2, are considered the best option by many countries on the African continent facing insecurity problems. As for Israel, it has supplied numerous drones to African countries, mainly Morocco. These are generally tactical drones that help soldiers know the movements of enemy troops on the battlefield.

Note that a few African countries currently produce drones for military use, including South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria. South Africa is the only one currently producing and exporting military drones.

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However, other countries which have launched into the arms industry will join in the coming years. Among these is Morocco, which has made the arms industry one of its future industrial priorities in the field of defense. In the field of drones, the Israeli company BlueBird Aero Systems announced last April the upcoming start-up of a drone production unit in Morocco. To this must be added Aerodrive Engineering Services (AES), the manufacturer of the first 100% Moroccan military drone, which targets the production of 1,000 unmanned vehicles of different models per year. Its first Atlas Istar model, intended for critical military operations, offers numerous advantages: intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, etc.