A demographic bomb hits the army. Europe needs millions of soldiers. The solution is to come from the south

Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a demographic explosion, unlike Europe, which, threatened by Russia's imperialist ambitions, has serious problems with replenishing the ranks of its troops. South African think tank, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), is proposing formalized recruitment of young Africans into European troops.

A new idea to combat the lack of people in the army

As a result of an aging society According to World Bank forecasts, the number of economically active people in the EU will decrease by approximately 24 million over the next 25 years. At the same time in Sub-Saharan African countries there will be 541 million new citizens. Due to a shrinking labor force, the European Union economy is growing slowly, rural areas are depopulating and labor costs are rising. And the situation is especially difficult in the army, which needs young people.

Relying on foreign recruits is not a new idea. The latest example, apart from Putin's bandit pattern of recruiting foreigners, is the mutual defense treaty signed in October 2025, which allows Papua New Guinean citizens to join the Australian Defense Force (ADF). According to the agreement, as many as 10 thousand Papua New Guinea recruits can serve in Australian forces. And Papua New Guinea's age profile is similar to Africa's, with a large and growing proportion of young people and high unemployment.

Africans in the ranks of European armies?

South African think tank proposed Europe to follow Australia's lead and formalize agreements with overpopulated African countries under which European countries would train African brigadesthat could help solve security problems in Europe and, after the end of the European mission, also in their unstable African homelands.

This is the logic behind, for example, the recently signed by Kenya and Germany an agreement on labor migration, which is intended to facilitate the legal recruitment of several thousand skilled and semi-skilled workers to the labor-shortage German market. Under the agreement, Kenyans will be entitled to obtain a residence permit for up to two years to study and work, later transferring the acquired knowledge and experience to Kenya.

A similar scheme could be considered, according to ISS, to solve the problems of European armies. (PAP)

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