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LONDON, Oct 21 (AFP) - Arms sales saw little growth on a world scale last year, but the multitude of regional conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa led to a near-doubling in deliveries there, according to the IISS think-tank.
In a report published Thursday, the International Institute of Strategic Studies put arms sales at 56.9 billion dollars (52.6 billion euros) in 1998, up from 56 billion dollars a year before but a slight fall once inflation is considered.
Compared to the traditional big-spenders, of course, such as Saudi Arabia and Taiwan, sub-Saharan Africa represents only a small fraction of the world market.
But its share rose from 1.8 percent to 3.0 percent last year, as much as Latin America which has incomparably more wealth.
Three-quarters of sub-Saharan countries are in conflict, or threatened by armed groups, for reasons as much to do with economics as politics. More than half the world's conflicts are in the region.
And contrary to perceived opinion, the breadth of weaponry in use is impressive: second-hand light arms as well as the latest Russian fighter planes were delivered recently to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Economic growth was hardly anything to shout about in the region -- around one percent without taking inflation into account. But money was not lacking for weapons, partly financed by "friendly" countries such as Iran helping Sudan and Libya aiding the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Africans living outside the continent also supported the war effort, as did foreign companies implanted in the countries, via export duties and tax concessions.
Even some money destined as international aid was probably siphoned off en route through the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to fund arms purchases, the IISS experts said.
"This is raising questions about the multilateral banks' inadvertent role as financiers to Africa's wars," they added.
In some cases, expenditure on weapons rose to burdensome levels. Eritrea, in conflict with Ethiopia, devoted 36 percent of its gross domestic product on arms purchases.
Sub-Saharan Africa excepted, world arms sales varied little in 1998. In spite of falling oil prices, Saudi Arabia remained the top buyer, taking delivery of 10.4 billion dollars (9.6 billion euros) worth of goods, down slightly from 11 billion in 1997.
Taiwan, wary of the perceived threat from China, paid 6.3 billion dollars for weapons.
Israel, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore were also big buyers, each spending about one billion dollars. Europe as a whole accounted for 33 percent of arms purchases.
As for suppliers, France saw its share of the market rising from 13.2 percent in 1997 to 17.6 percent last year. It thus became the world's second biggest arms seller, although a long way behind the United States which hogged 48.6 percent of the market.
Britain was in third place with a 16.2 percent share. In fourth was Russia, whose 5.1 percent was a slight increase.
The year was also marked by an acceleration in the rate of industrial concentration, the IISS noted, encouraging the development of programmes involving the US arms manufacturing sector as well as the European.
Such concentration is the only way of combining the latest technological advances with cost reductions.