Cote d'Ivoire vs. Ghana
Military
| Cote d'Ivoire | Ghana | |
|---|---|---|
| Military branches | 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) | Ghana Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force (2021) |
| Military service age and obligation | 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) | 18-26 years of age for voluntary military service, with basic education certificate; no conscription (2019) |
| 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) | 0.4% of GDP (2019) 0.4% of GDP (2018) 0.3% of GDP (2017) 0.3% of GDP (2016) 0.4% of GDP (2015) |
| 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 2020, there were 98 reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea region; although a 24% decrease from the total number of incidents in 2019, it included all three hijackings and 9 of 11 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 2020, a record 130 crew members were kidnapped in 22 separate incidents in the Gulf of Guinea, representing 95% of kidnappings worldwide; approximately 51% of all incidents of piracy and armed robbery are taking place off Nigeria, which is a decrease from the 71% in 2019 and an indication pirates are traveling further to target vessels; Nigerian pirates 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 (2021-002 - Gulf of Guinea-Piracy/Armed Robbery/Kidnapping for Ransom) effective 9 January 2021, 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." | 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 2020, there were 98 reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea region; although a 24% decrease from the total number of incidents in 2019, it included all three hijackings and 9 of 11 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 2020, a record 130 crew members were kidnapped in 22 separate incidents in the Gulf of Guinea, representing 95% of kidnappings worldwide; approximately 51% of all incidents of piracy and armed robbery are taking place off Nigeria, which is a decrease from the 71% in 2019 and an indication pirates are traveling further to target vessels; Nigerian pirates 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 (2021-002 - Gulf of Guinea-Piracy/Armed Robbery/Kidnapping for Ransom) effective 9 January 2021, 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." |
| 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) | the Ghana Armed Forces consists of approximately 14,000 active personnel (10,000 Army; 2,000 Navy; 2,000 Air Force) (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 Ghana Armed Forces is a mix of Russian, Chinese, and Western equipment; since 2010, it has received armaments from a variety of suppliers, led by China, Germany, Russia, and Spain (2020) |
| Military deployments | 800 Mali (MINUSMA) (Jan 2021) | 150 Mali (MINUSMA); 875 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 850 South Sudan (UNMISS) (Jan 2021) note: Ghana has pledged to maintain about 1,000 military personnel in readiness for UN peacekeeping missions |
Source: CIA Factbook
