Benin Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Beninese Armed Forces (Forces Armees Beninoises, FAB; aka Benin Defense Forces): Army, Navy, Air Force; Ministry of Interior and Public Security: Republican Police (Police Republicaine, DGPR) (2022)

Military expenditures

0.7% of GDP (2021 est.)

0.5% of GDP (2020 est.)

0.5% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $130 million)

0.7% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $140 million)

0.9% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $160 million)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 7,000 active-duty troops; estimated 5,000 Republican Police (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the FAB is equipped with a small mix of mostly older French and Soviet-era equipment (2021)

Military service age and obligation

18-35 years of age for voluntary and selective compulsory military service; a higher education diploma is required; both sexes are eligible for military service; conscript service is 18 months (2022)

Military deployments

260 (plus about 160 police) Mali (MINUSMA) (May 2022)

Military - note

as of 2022, a key focus for the security forces of Benin was countering infiltrations into the country by terrorist groups tied to al-Qa'ida and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) operating just over the border from north Benin in Burkina Faso and Niger; in May 2022, the Benin Government said it was "at war" with terrorism after suffering a series of attacks from these groups; in addition, the FAB participated in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) along with Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups operating in the general area of the Lake Chad Basin and along Nigeria's northeast border

the FAB has a close working relationship with the Belgian armed forces; the Belgians offer military advice, training, and second-hand equipment donations, and deploy to Benin for limited military exercises (2022)

Maritime threats

the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea remain a very high risk for piracy and armed robbery of ships; in 2021, there were 34 reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea region; although a significant decrease from the total number of 81 incidents in 2020, it included the one hijacking and three of five ships fired upon worldwide; while boarding and attempted boarding to steal valuables from ships and crews are the most common types of incidents, almost a third of all incidents involve a hijacking and/or kidnapping; in 2021, 57 crew members were kidnapped in seven separate incidents in the Gulf of Guinea, representing 100% of kidnappings worldwide; Nigerian pirates in particular are well armed and very aggressive, operating as far as 200 nm offshore; the Maritime Administration of the US Department of Transportation has issued a Maritime Advisory (2022-001 - Gulf of Guinea-Piracy/Armed Robbery/Kidnapping for Ransom) effective 4 January 2022, which states in part, "Piracy, armed robbery, and kidnapping for ransom continue to serve as significant threats to US-flagged vessels transiting or operating in the Gulf of Guinea"

NOTE: The information regarding Benin on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Benin 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Benin 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.