AU must combat small arms proliferation

Small arms and light weapons have seen a radical increase at a global level as the arms trade has grown exponentially over the years. However, when it comes to the impact of illicit trade it is the continent of Africa that continues to bear the brunt of this proliferation. Since 2006, civilian ownership of Small Arms and Light Weapons has increased in the continent with about 40 million small arms in the hands of civilian as opposed to around 11 million stocks under the ownership of states.

This shows that in terms of small arms and light weapons African citizens are more armed than states. It is also very common for state held weapons to frequently enter the illegal market via various ways such as armed robberies, smuggling to proxies by state officials, illicit sale by some corrupt state officials and members of the military.