Ethiopia vs. Kenya
Military
| Ethiopia | Kenya | |
|---|---|---|
| Military branches | Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF): Ground Forces, Ethiopian Air Force (Ye Ityopya Ayer Hayl, ETAF) (2020) note(s): in January 2020 the Ethiopian Government announced it had re-established a navy, which was disbanded in 1996; in March 2019 Ethiopia signed a defense cooperation agreement with France which stipulated that France would support the establishment of an Ethiopian navy, which will reportedly be based out of Djibouti in 2018, Ethiopia established a Republican Guard for protecting senior officials; the Republican Guard is a military unit accountable to the Prime Minister | Kenya Defence Forces: Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, Kenya Air Force (2021) note: the National Police Service includes a paramilitary General Service Unit |
| Military service age and obligation | 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no compulsory military service, but the military can conduct callups when necessary and compliance is compulsory (2019) | no conscription; 18-26 years of age for male and female voluntary service (under 18 with parental consent; upper limit 30 years of age for specialists, tradesmen, or women with a diploma; 39 years of age for chaplains/imams), with a 9-year obligation (7 years for Kenyan Navy) and subsequent 3-year re-enlistments; applicants must be Kenyan citizens (2020) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.7% of GDP (2019 est.) 0.7% of GDP (2018 est.) 0.7% of GDP (2017 est.) 0.7% of GDP (2016 est.) 0.7% of GDP (2015 est.) | 1.3% of GDP (2019) 1.2% of GDP (2018) 1.3% of GDP (2017) 1.3% of GDP (2016) 1.3% of GDP (2015) |
| Military - note | each of the nine states has a regional and/or a "special" paramilitary security forces that report to regional civilian authorities; local militias operate across the country in loose and varying coordination with these regional security and police forces, the Ethiopian Federal Police (EFP), and the Ethiopian military; the EFP reports to the Ministry of Peace, which was created in October of 2018
| the Kenya Coast Guard Service (established 2018) is under the Ministry of Interior, but led by a military officer and comprised of personnel from the military, as well as the National Police Service, intelligence services, and other government agencies (2020) |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | information varies; approximately 150,000 active duty troops, including about 3,000 Air Force personnel (no personnel numbers available for the newly-established Navy) (2020) | the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) are comprised of approximately 24,000 personnel (20,000 Army; 1,500 Navy; 2,500 Air Force) (2020) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the ENDF's inventory is comprised mostly of Soviet-era equipment from the 1970s; since 2010, Russia and Ukraine are the leading suppliers of largely second-hand weapons and equipment to the ENDF, followed by China and Hungary; Ethiopia has a modest industrial defense base centered on small arms and production of armored vehicles (2020) | the KDF's inventory traditionally carried mostly older or second-hand Western weapons systems, particularly from France, the UK, and the US; however, since the 2000s it has sought to modernize and diversify its imports; suppliers since 2010 include China, France, Italy, Jordan, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, and the US (2020) |
| Military deployments | estimated 10,000 Somalia (4,500 for AMISOM); 800 Sudan (UNAMID); 3,200 Sudan (UNISFA); 2,100 South Sudan (UNMISS) (Jan 2021) | 3,650 Somalia (AMISOM) (2021) |
Source: CIA Factbook
