For the first time, IANSA, Oxfam, and Safeworld have estimated the economic cost of armed conflict to Africa’s development. A total of around $300bn since 1990 has been lost, amounting to nearly $18bn per year. The most commonly used weapons in Africa’s conflicts are Kalashnikov assault rifles. The vast majority of these weapons and their ammunition – an estimated 95 per cent - come from outside Africa. This alarming evidence draws attention to the need for global attention to controlling weapons trade that transports weapons to the conflict zones of Africa [1]. 

These findings indicate that conflict shrinks an African nation’s economy by an average of fifteen percent, which is probably a conservative estimate [2]. These costs accumulate in various ways, not solely from the direct costs of conflict such as military expenditures, damage to infrastructure, and the care of displaced or injured persons. The indirect costs are much higher. “The country suffers from inflation, debt, and reduced investment, while people suffer from unemployment, lack of public services, and trauma. More people, especially women and children, die from the fall-out of conflict than die in conflict itself [3].

“This is money Africa can ill afford to lose”, says the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. If armed violence is this costly and most of the weapons come from outside Africa, then Africa desperately needs to stop the flow of arms to these regions.

In December 2006, 153 countries agreed to start developing an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). A UN Group of Governmental Experts (GCE) will begin their work in January 2008 and will present their recommendations to the General Assembly in October 2008. The ATT will not prevent the responsible transfer of weapons for defense, policing, peacekeeping, or other legitimate purposes. It will not prevent a transfer if it is legal under the national laws of all countries concerned, legal under international laws, and upholds current best practice, particularly in ensuring that the arms are not likely to be diverted to another user [4].

The IIJD encourages every effort to be made to limit the enormous and crippling costs of violence in Africa. The smooth passage of the ATT relies on the continued support of African nations for this measure. This treaty will address the urgent need for attention to be drawn to the proliferation of arms and ammunition. In failing to control the arms trade, the international community has let Africa down. The smooth implementation of this treaty would hopefully lead to sustainable arms control efforts which will minimize the costs associated with armed conflicts. “All governments have a role to play in ensuring its success, so that women, men, girls, and boys across Africa are spared the human and economic impact of armed violence” [5].