Which militaries in sub-Saharan Africa are regarded as the most highly “professional” and competent by the rest of the world? That is, which militaries inspire experts in the field to say “Yes, these guys know what they’re doing”?
Note that I’m not simply asking for the most powerful military force on paper. Nigeria has quite a large army, but I don’t believe it’s particularly well-regarded. I’m more interested in smaller countries that simply have their act together.
Botswana has a very professional military, which is likely a result of its being a stable country for a long time with a much better economy than most of its neighbours. Unlike a lot of African countries, it’s been run peacefully from the first day of independence. The military is civilian controlled with no pretense to running the government, well organized, sends soldiers on foreign training courses and peacekeeping missions, is reasonably well armed, and could very likely kick the snot out of a lot of larger but less professional African armies. Most of its officers have received training in the USA.
We’re (South Africa) certainly the most advanced & technologically savvy (check out the Rooivalk, as well as our several influential and much-copied IFVs like the Ratel, Nyala and Casspir), plus, of course, we had the Bomb and gave it up. But we have, by all accounts, slipped a bit in tech leadership since the regime changed (as that Rooivalk link will show). Also, AIDS and politics has taken a toll on personnel, I’m told. Still, I believe our guys are still in great demand as UN peacekeepers in Central Africa (never mind the ex-military <ahem> “freelancers” found all over the globe), and we’ve just acquired several billions worth of new military tech including navy ships and subs as well as Swedish fighters, so we should be in the running.
I believe we could kick anyone else in Africa’s asses, FWIW.
Senegal’s army, while rather small, has been pretty highly regarded for years.
The Ethiopian army in recent years has won acclaim for driving out Islamist warlords in Somalia (with strong US intelligence support) and for peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Sudan.
Nigerian Army was/is regarded pretty well. There officers are often trained in the UK and they have quite a bit of combat experience. Military History Online did an interesting piece on them a few years back, and dealt with the Bifara (sp?) rebellion which was often put forward as an example of Nigerian militrary incompetance. Let me see if I can find it, fascinating article.