5 Weakest Militaries in Africa

4. Sierra Leone

GDP (2023): $3.52 billion

Defense Spending (2023): $19 million 

Manpower: 13,000

Tanks: 2

Armored Fighting Vehicles: 104

Military Aircraft: 4

Naval Assets: 10

Overall Score: 5.7

Considering the size of the country’s GDP and the understandably meager spending on defense expenditure, it is unlikely that Sierra Leone is going to get out of the top five list for Africa’s weakest militaries any time soon. The country has a small inventory of military equipment, almost all of which is second-hand, and of the Soviet Union era. The two tanks possessed by Sierra Leone were purchased from Ukraine in 1994, and it is doubtful that these are in operational status.