RWANDA & BURUNDI: High Military Expenditures, Low GDP per Capita in Rwanda, US State Department Report Shows

On January 10, 2012, The US Department of State announced Publication of 29th edition of The World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers WMEAT). The report published a comprehensive set of metrics on military expenditures and other macro economic indicators for countries around the World. According to the report, most of the rich Middle-east states and the poor countries of Africa are among the most militarized. The report covers the period of 1995-2005.
In the Great Lakes Region and Central Africa, the most militarized countries are, in the decreasing order of the number of armed forces per 1000 people:

• Burundi: 5.1
• Rwanda: 4.3
• Republic of Congo: 3.1
• DRC: 1.8
• Uganda: 1.8
• Tanzania: 1.0
• Central African Republic: 0.6

Apart from the almost failed state of Burundi, Rwanda comes first with a rate of 4.3, almost four times that of Tanzania and close to three times of that of Uganda.
The picture becomes even dramatique when the index of armed forces per 1000 people is contrasted with the 2005 GDP per capita:

• Tanzania: US $374
• Uganda: US $302
• Rwanda: US$ 254
• Burundi: US$ 102

Countries with a lower armed forces index appear to have a higher GDP per capita. Compared to other countries out of the region, the countries of Rwanda and Burundiappear highly militarized with the lowest economic performance:
Canada 1.9 with GDP/capita: $34,900
Norway: 3.9 with GDP/capita $65,700
Gabon: 4.3 with GDP/capita:$ 6,240
Ghana: 0.3 with GDP/Capita: $ 487
NIgeria:0.6 with GDP/Capita: $ 816
Burundi and Rwandan are two among the poorest countries in the World. It is clear that the Rwandan Military expenditures do not match its economic poor performance. Despite the much touted Rwandan economic performance, the macroeconomics metrics shown by the WMEAT do not appear to match the economical growth claimed by the Rwandan government either. The numbers from US Department of State’s WMEAT appear rather to match those from independent experts (see our article: Rwanda: When Statistics Lie.
Following are the numbers (Current Military Expenditures(ME),Constant 2005 Military Expenditures (CME), Armed Forces (AF), Current GDP (GDP),Constant 2005 GDP(2005 GDP),Central Govt Expenditures(CGE), People (PE), ME/AF, ME/GOP, ME/CGE, ME per Capita (ME/C), Armed Forces per 1000 people (AF/1000), GDP per Capita(GDP/C)

Source: AfroAmerica Network on January 15, 2012

Author:  Lockerz