The Middle East and North Africa military spending will reach $920 billion by 2020 of which $27 billion will be invested in the Gulf States, a study by a leading defence information company revealed yesterday.
AFP quoted US IHS Global Insight as saying: “The acceleration in military expenditures will have a positive impact on the Middle East and North Africa economy particularly the GCC countries.”
Guy Anderson, chief analyst for IHS Jane’s Defence Industry Markets, said: “$27 billion will be injected into Gulf States’ economies by 2020 via offset programmes.”
Offset programmes are agreements in which suppliers agree to buy products from the purchaser in order to win the buyer as a customer and offset the buyer’s costs.
Anderson pointed out that Saudi Arabia will gain most from these investments estimated at $12.6 billion followed by the United Arab Emirates at $12.2 billion.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released a report in March which revealed that the UAE and Saudi Arabia were among the five largest purchasers of arms in the world between 2009 and 2013.
According to the report, Africa’s arms imports rose during the same period with Algeria, Morocco and Sudan being the largest importers.
According to SIPRI, the US exported nearly 29 per cent of the world’s arms over the past five years followed by Russia with 27 per cent, Germany with seven per cent and China with six per cent.
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