Faced with rising insecurity, the question of allocating budget shares to military spending has become a crucial issue and a priority for countries. The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). In this context, this study analyzes the link between military spending and economic growth in the eight WAEMU countries over the period 2000-2023. To do so, we use a simultaneous equations model estimated by the three-stage least squares (3SLS) method on panel data. The results reveal that a 1% increase in military spending leads to a 0.21% decrease in economic growth. Conversely, a 1% increase in economic growth stimulates military spending by 1.66% in the region. Furthermore, the causality test of Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) confirms a bidirectional relationship between the two variables. These results highlight the need to consider the development of military industries and the pooling of all operational capabilities.
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