A study by three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has found that the armed conflicts in Africa have cost about $284 billion over 15 years, equal to the amount of international aid the world's poorest continent has received in the same period.

The Africa's Missing Billions study, carried out by Oxfam International, the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and British NGO Saferworld, has found that armed conflicts in 23 African countries (almost half of Africa's 53 countries) have cost the continent around as much as Africa had received in international aid between 1990 and 2005.

"In my own country conflict has led to the squandering of rich mineral, agricultural and human resources that should have benefited Liberia and its people," Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf wrote in the foreword to the report.

Joseph Dube, the Africa coordinator for the International Action Network on Small Arms, said the report "describes some of the devastating economic impacts of the poorly regulated international arms trade and the shocking level of human suffering that this causes."

At the same time, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 63 per cent of all HIV infection cases worldwide, or 24.7 million people.

Most of the weapons used in African conflicts, including the widely used Kalashnikov assault rifle, are sourced from outside the continent. With the help of the United States, an important weapon sales treaty was blocked. The treaty was put to a vote in the UN General Assembly in 2006, and aimed at banning the sales of weapons where they were likely to be used to fuel conflicts, commit serious human rights violations or undermine sustainable development.

Only the United States voted against the treaty, with 153 countries voting in favour and 24 abstaining. This happened because the US is the world's leading arms dealer to the developing world, followed by Russia and Britain.

The Africa's Missing Billions report said its assessment is most likely an underestimate because it does not take into account the economic impact borne by neighboring states, which have to deal with tides of refugees and regional political instability.