In this article, we look at the 15 largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions. You can skip our detailed analysis on their services that have maintained peace and helped uplift the socio-economic landscape of these regions, and head directly over to the 5 Largest Troop Contributors to UN Peacekeeping.
In April 1994, a retired army major from Ghana, serving in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Rwanda, was leading a military unit to help Tutsis escape from a hotel to a UN safe zone to survive the onslaught from Interahamwe, a genocidal Hutu militia. In order to get passage to the hotel, he offered a can of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) to a young angry Hutu soldier who had blocked the road leading to the hotel. And it worked! Major Peter Sosi and his unit got passage to the hotel in Kigali without much resistance.
This example of Coca-Cola diplomacy provides some illustration of the role UN peacekeepers have in conflict zones. That is primarily to protect civilians, ensure peace and security, facilitate political process, and assist in demobilization. One of the basic principles of peacekeeping missions is that it is not a fighting military force, except if it is required to use force in self defense or while defending the UN mandate.
The concept of UN peacekeeping missions, where troops are deployed to ensure peace and not fight, was first born in 1948 in the Middle East when Israel and its neighboring countries went into conflict. The United Nations, since then, has helped a number of countries navigate their path from conflict to peace through its peacekeeping missions that deploy troops and police forces from across the world and integrate them with civilian peacekeepers to meet mandates set by the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
Peacekeeping and Economic Growth
While it will be far-fetched to say that peacekeeping missions alone have led to economic stability and growth in troubled regions, they have certainly played a key role in ensuring a stable environment that is conducive for business.
Namibia, for instance, was ravaged by civil war, genocide, and tremendous hardship for several years. After the UN Peacekeeping Mission helped end the conflict in 1989 and supported the country’s first free and fair elections, Namibia has only progressed. It is an upper-middle-income economy today and has become an oil and gas exploration hotspot after Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) made several oil discoveries off the coast of the African country in recent years.
Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) which already has at least four exploration drills in Namibia, plans to drill two more inside the next nine months, with the expectation of the possible development of a new oil basin. Currently, Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) is spending nearly 25% of its $1 billion deep water exploration budget in the southern African country.
Another great success story is that of Côte d'Ivoire, a war-torn country, which now has had one of the highest rates of economic growth since the UN mandate successfully concluded in 2017. Between 2018 and 2022, the Ivorian economy has expanded at an average of 5.5% per annum. The country has actively been positioning itself as a tourist location and raised $5.8 billion euros for its tourism industry at a conference in Germany in 2019, as reported by The Bloomberg.
Peacekeeping missions have had the most profound economic impact in Africa. Half of all twelve peacekeeping missions ongoing today, and more than thirty since 1960, have taken place in the continent. These have aided in controlling the violence from going out of hand and spreading to nearby countries. Peace has also allowed economic activity to flourish. Africa is the second fastest growing region in the world after Asia, with a real GDP growth rate of close to 4% as of 2022. Nine of the top 20 countries with the highest rate of economic growth of the last five years are African countries.
The hotel and hospitality sector in Africa has witnessed a boom in recent years, with several hotel giants entering the market through acquisitions or by constructing new facilities. Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) in 2017 announced to invest $8.5 billion as part of its massive expansion in Africa, with the plan of having 200 hotels in the continent by 2022. The initiative included construction of the Marriott, Sheraton, and Four Seasons hotels in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, the Renaissance Landmark Lagos Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, and Le Meridien in Accra, Ghana, among several others.
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) late last year announced plans to open a further 30 new hotels in Africa by 2024. It is the second biggest investor in the continent’s hotel and tourism sector after Radisson Hotel Group between 2016 and 2022. Investments by Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) during this time have created an estimated 50,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Africa has become a key region for growth for Radisson Hotel Group, where the company opened 16 new hotels between 2020 and 2022, as part of its aim to increase its operations in the continent. Radisson has set out an ambitious plan to reach 150 hotels with over 25,000 rooms across Africa over the next five years. Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, both that had long seen bloody violence are now part of what Radisson describes as its key markets for expansion in Africa.
Accor SA (EPA:AC) and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE:WH) are other big names that are investing heavily in the hospitality industry of Africa. You can read about their investments in the continent in detail by heading over to 15 African Countries With The Highest Investments In The Hotel Business.
15 Largest Troop Contributors to UN Peacekeeping
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Methodology
The 15 largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions are listed in ascending order of uniformed personnel deployed. Data has been sourced from the United Nations, and is as of July 31, 2023.
If interested, you can also take a look at the 25 Most Powerful Militaries in the World in 2023.
Let’s now head over to the list of the largest troop contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions.
Top 15 Troop Contributors to UN Peacekeeping Missions:
15. South Africa
Personnel Deployed: 1,170
South Africa first deployed its military and police personnel under the UN flag in 1999 during the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most of the South African troops contributed to UN Peacekeeping are still stationed in Congo. Among them are 230 women, making South Africa the sixth largest contributor of women troops to UN peacekeeping missions.
14. Chad
Personnel Deployed: 1,429
Chad is one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping. Chadian soldiers made up 11% of all UN troops deployed in the peacekeeping mission in north and central Mali until the mission’s termination in June this year.
13. Ethiopia
Personnel Deployed: 1,500
The Ethiopian military and police force have played an important role in ensuring the UN’s mandate in peacekeeping missions across the world, even as early as 1951 during the Korean war. An estimated 1,500 troops from Ethiopia are deployed today under UN peacekeeping missions in Africa.
12. Tanzania
Personnel Deployed: 1,533
Tanzanian troops are deployed in several ongoing UN peacekeeping missions across Africa, and have played their part in community policing and protecting civilians from conflicts. However, more recently, some Tanzanian personnel have been in the news for the wrong reasons. In June this year, the UN repatriated 60 Tanzanian soldiers from the Central African Republic amid reports of their involvement in sexual abuse.
11. Morocco
Personnel Deployed: 1,720
Morocco has one of the most powerful militaries in Africa, and the country is one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping. To date, more than 75,000 Moroccan soldiers and police personnel have served in UN peacekeeping in more than 14 missions in various countries. Apart from providing military services, Morocco also set up 17 field hospitals in these countries that served nearly three million people.
10. Egypt
Personnel Deployed: 2,109
Egypt is the third largest contributor of police officials and military experts to UN peacekeeping missions. The country has contributed more than 30,000 troops since 1960 to peacekeeping operations in 24 countries, from Africa and Asia to Latin America and Europe. Egypt has been widely praised by the world community for its contributions in the Central African Republic, where more 1,100 troops support peace efforts through both military and police units.
9. China
Personnel Deployed: 2,277
It is hardly a surprise to see China on the list, considering its role as a leading global power, its growing influence in Africa, and the fact that it has the largest standing army in the world in terms of manpower. The Chinese military makes up nearly 3% of all troops deployed in UN peacekeeping missions. Nearly half of these are currently deployed in South Sudan. Mali, Lebanon, and Congo are other African countries with sizable presence of Chinese troops as part of UN peacekeeping missions.
8. Senegal
Personnel Deployed: 2,468
Senegal has a history of taking part in peacekeeping missions right since its independence in 1960, when during the same year, it sent a contingent of 600 soldiers to take part in the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. With current deployment numbers nearing 2,500, it is one of the largest troop contributing countries to UN peacekeeping.
7. Indonesia
Personnel Deployed: 2,710
Indonesia has sent more than 24,000 troops to UN peacekeeping operations around the world since 1957. Currently, Indonesian soldiers and police officials are serving in several missions, including in Lebanon, Congo, and Haiti. The Indonesian government plans to increase the number of troops deployed to peacekeeping missions to 4,000 over the next few years.
6. Ghana
Personnel Deployed: 2,769
Ghana is one of the top troop contributors to UN peacekeeping, with its soldiers serving in missions across eight countries currently. The African country has a rich history of serving in operations since the early 1970s, having delivered their services in various regions, from Sinai to war-torn parts of Africa. Ghana is also the host of this year's United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial, where members states will come together in Accra to discuss strengthening of UN peacekeeping missions across the world.
