ABSTRACT
Independence has brought new armaments to Africa: the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency reported that military expenditures among African countries rose 154 per cent in the decade 1969–1978. Certainly the major powers, through self-restraint and by working to resolve the majority rule/equal rights disputes of southern Africa can aid in the arms control process. The evidence on African armaments patterns is clear: some African nations are increasing their armaments beyond the levels of a decade ago; a few are increasing these levels at a dramatic rate. If major power involvement in Africa increases in the late 1980s and in the 1990s, increased African armaments will surely result. A historical reason for the presence of only modest military systems in Africa is that Africa experienced very little militarisation during its colonial era, somewhat in contrast to its pre-colonial history, because there was no need until the twentieth century to arm the colonies.
