Senegal - Military Spending

Security broadly was a priority for President Sall. The budget allocated for internal security increased by 300 % between 2013 and 2017, reaching about EUR 8 million (of a total GDP of 12 billion EUR) . Security measures mainly aim to prevent terrorist attacks, which Senegal has thus far been immune to but which affect neighbouring countries. While Islam is the majority religion in Senegal, dominated by Sufism of moderate religious orientation, around 50 suspected jihadists were arrested in Senegal in 2016-2017, and porous borders with Mali are a matter of concern.

The budget is not representative of the level of renewal of the equipment because Senegal benefits from a lot of donations of equipment from allied countries which allows to have despite a small investment budget a rise and a correct operational level.

Defense was allotted the equivalent of about US$4.3 million in fiscal year 1961, or about 3.3 percent of the total national budget. This was increased in succeeding years, exceeding the equivalent of US$13.7million, or 7.4 percent of the total budget in fiscal year 1964. These figures represented only part of the total defense costs. Indirect aid from France covered much of the cost of the military forces, but data on such aid were not published.

Increases brought Senegal's military budget up to the equivalent of about US$18 million for the 1969 and 1970 fiscal years, or more than 10 percent of the national budget. Military costs for fiscal year 1973 were projected at about US$19 million, less then 9 percent of the government's total budget.

Basic weapons, vehicles, base installations, uniforms, small naval vessels, aircraft, and other materiel used by Senegalese forces were provided by France. During the 1962-72 decade the United States provided about US$2.8 million in aid, mostly in the form of equipment for use in civic construction by the engineer battalion. In 1973 almost all other equipment continued to be of French origin, obtained by grant or purchase. Military aid from France between 1954 and 1973 was valued at the equivalent of nearly US$20 million, but annual aid was reduced considerably after 1969, amounting to less than US$1.5 million from 1970 through 1972.

The budget of the armed forces increased by 9 percent for 2001-2002 and by 8 percent for 2002-2003, reaching CFAF 56 billion, or $68.6 million at the time. In 2005 military spending was estimated at 1.4% of GDP , in 2006 at 1.9%. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2005, the budget was $ 117,300,000, 113rd in the country's defense budgets. This makes Senegal the 3rd defense budget of Francophone West Africa behind Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea Conakry.

The budget of the Ministry of the Armed Forces for the fiscal year 2017, adopted 07 December 2016 by the National Assembly, increased by 28.566 billion CFA francs, reaching 179. 348. 673. 540 FCFA. For the financial year 2016, he had been arrested at the sum of 150,632,018,280 CFA. Most of the expenditure for the year 2017 relates to capital transfers, with an increase of CFAF 11.404 billion in absolute value and 83.87% in relative value.

According to the World Bank, military expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities. Such expenditures include military and civil personnel, including retirement pensions of military personnel and social services for personnel; operation and maintenance; procurement; military research and development; and military aid (in the military expenditures of the donor country).

Excluded are civil defense and current expenditures for previous military activities, such as for veterans' benefits, demobilization, conversion, and destruction of weapons. This definition cannot be applied for all countries, however, since that would require much more detailed information than is available about what is included in military budgets and off-budget military expenditure items. (For example, military budgets might or might not cover civil defense, reserves and auxiliary forces, police and paramilitary forces, dual-purpose forces such as military and civilian police, military grants in kind, pensions for military personnel, and social security contributions paid by one part of government to another.)