Armed Forces of Cote d'Ivoire (Forces Armees de Cote d'Ivoire, FACI; aka Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, FRCI): Army (Armee de Terre), Navy (Marine Nationale), Cote Air Force (Force Aerienne Cote), Special Forces (Forces Speciale); National Gendarmerie (under the Ministry of Defense); National Police (under the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection); Coordination Center for Operational Decisions (a mix of police, gendarmerie, and FACI personnel for assisting police in providing security in some large cities) (2020)
18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary male and female military service; conscription is not enforced; voluntary recruitment of former rebels into the new national army is restricted to ages 22-29 (2019)
no compulsory military service (2021)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
1.1% of GDP (2019 est.)
1.4% of GDP (2018)
1.3% of GDP (2017)
1.7% of GDP (2016)
1.7% of GDP (2015)
2% of GDP (2019)
2.3% of GDP (2018)
2.5% of GDP (2017)
2.5% of GDP (2016)
3.3% of GDP (2015)
Military and security service personnel strengths
the Armed Forces of Cote d'Ivoire have approximately 25,000 active troops (23,000 Army, including about 2,000 Special Forces; 1,000 Navy; 1,000 Air Force); est. 5-10,000 Gendarmerie (2020)
Guinean National Armed Forces are comprised of approximately 12,000 active personnel (9,000 Army; 400 Navy; 800 Air Force; 300 BASP; 1,500 Gendarmerie) (2020)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the inventory of the FACI consists mostly of older or second-hand equipment, typically of French or Soviet-era origin; Cote d'Ivoire was under a partial UN arms embargo from 2004 to 2016; since 2016, it has received limited amounts of mostly second-hand equipment from a variety of countries, with Bulgaria as the leading supplier (2020)
the inventory of the Guinean military consists largely of ageing and outdated (mostly Soviet-era) equipment; since 2010, it has received small amounts of equipment from France, Russia, and South Africa (2020)
