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Ivory Coast Table of Contents

Ivory Coast

The Military in National Perspective

From 1976 to 1985, Ivoirian military expenditures averaged less than 2 percent of GNP and ranged between 4 and 6 percent of the government's budget. As measured in constant 1983 United States dollars, the country's arms imports multiplied sevenfold from about US$15 million a year during 1976 and 1977 to between US$90 and US$130 million per year from 1978 to 1981, when Côte d'Ivoire acquired several costly ships and aircraft. Expenditures then declined abruptly to an annual average of only US$22 million from 1982 to 1985, a period of austerity for the country (see Growth and Structure of the Economy , ch. 3). At least a portion of Côte d'Ivoire's arms imports from France was furnished on a grant basis during this period.

The government's operating budget for FY 1986 amounted to CFA F433.62 billion (for value of CFA F--see Glossary), of which CFA F31.3 billion (7.2 percent) was allocated to the Ministry of Defense. Although this represented almost an 11 percent increase from the ministry's 1985 budget, defense allocations were still a distant second to the budget of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research. Personnel costs absorbed about two-thirds of the defense budget, while materials and operating expenses each absorbed about one-fifth of the budget. In addition, for FY 1986 the Ministry of Maritime Affairs received CFA F1.1 billion (a substantial reduction from CFA F3.8 billion in 1985), bringing the total defense operating budget for 1986 to CFA F32.4 billion.

Data as of November 1988