Improving military expenditure decisionmaking in sub-Saharan Africa

This article begins by emphasizing that the number and intensity of armed conflict has fallen substantially but that military expenditure levels in sub-Saharan Africa have nonetheless increased, largely as a result of South African expenditure. The article attempts to answer two questions. First, how can the budget of the security sector be allocated so as to result in effective and efficient security outcomes? Second, how can an appropriate level of military expenditure for a country be determined? It finds that there is a strong case for the military to be treated like any other government activity in terms of justifying its expenditure and being transparent in budgetary terms.