DRC: 2023 defense budget increased 300-fold amid confrontation with rebel groups

The Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, has increased by 300 per cent its defense budget for 2023 to $1 billion in view of “ramping up the power of the armed forces and to revamp military industry”.

The defense budget accounts for 10.4 per cent of the total budge put at $14.6 billion.

This budget should allow “the implementation of the military programming law in order to increase the strength of the armed forces and to revamp the military industry,” the government said following a cabinet meeting held in the office of President Félix Tshisekedi.

The budget bill “determines the sequence and pace of operations or purchases to be carried out to achieve the Armed Forces’ specific objectives.

The defense budget will cover acquisition of weapons and ammunitions of war, logistics, and rehabilitation of military infrastructure, training and recruitment.

Kinshasa also plans to bolster the strength of its air power. The Congolese army has been battling armed groups for 30 years in eastern DRC. The region is dogged by hundreds of armed groups, including foreign rebellions. M23 is the most serious rebel group in the East. Kinshasa has blamed Rwanda for propping the armed group.