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15 Nov 14. The Military Market for Africa. Scramble for the African
Defence Market. With defence spending among African nations expected to surpass USD48.6bn by 2018, global defence firms have started to eye the African market more closely. This has sparked an intense competition between non-African companies while opening up an array of possible joint ventures and technology transfer agreements with African firms. “The scramble for the African defence market has just begun, and it will continue over the next decade,” said Col. Joseph Sibanda, a retired Army officer in Zimbabwe and now a defence analyst, during an interview last year. As terrorism, Islamic militant activity and maritime crime rise, state-of-the-art systems to improve mobility and surveillance are in high demand. Sibanda believes that these will include more patrol ships, surveillance aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Another important factor is that war and civil strife in African nations have declined immensely. Although local conflicts still flare up, tensions rarely escalate to extreme levels. Historically violent hotspots such as Angola, Chad, Eritrea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have been notably quiet (the latter two countries being massively affected by the Ebola virus outbreak) while even Sudan and Somalia have seen a decrease in overall violence. If the trend continues, decades-long sanctions and arms embargos would be lifted, further expanding opportunities for global defence firms. For example, back in March 2013, the United Nations voted unanimously to temporarily lift part of a 21-year-old arms embargo on Somalia. While the relaxed rules of the embargo still maintain the ban on surface-to-air missiles, higher-caliber guns, howitzers and mortars, antitank weapons, and other heavy firepower, it allows for weapons such as automatic assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades to be sold to Somali security forces. Airbus Defence & Space, Boeing, Embraer, Lockheed Martin, and Rheinmetall are just some of the notable defence firms already capitalizing on the African market. Over the last two years, Boeing has been increasing its focus on the African defence market, particularly for rotorcraft. Up until 2012, Boeing Defence, Space & Security did not have a strong presence in Africa, and only a handful of air forces operated older Chinooks, AH-64 Apaches, and MD500s. Due to this, Boeing plans to establish its presence by providing maintenance, training and logistics services for these aircraft before moving forward to larger sales. Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer has also been expanding into Africa’s defence procurement market, particularly with its A-29 Super Tucano, which has found a profitable niche in the market. Back in 2012, Embraer sold Tucanos to Angola, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania in deals worth a combined USD180m. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin sold the first of what it believes will be many C-130J Super Hercules planes to Africa after Tunisia ordered two of the aircraft in February 2010. The new market will not only benefit the international community but Africa as well, since joint ventures between African manufacturers and international manufacturers are expected to increase greatly. South Africa stands to benefit the most from the new global focus and is likely to sign a number of new arms and production deals over the next decade. For example, in 2013, United States-based Colt Defence signed an agreement with Truvelo, South Africa’s sniper rifle manufacturer. The agreement resulted in the sale of Colt firearms to regional police and military forces. Shortly after the deal was signed, Swiss firm B&T partnered with South African state-owned company Denel on a technology transfer agreement that saw Denel produce several new B&T weapons, ranging from small arms to submachine guns to grenade launchers. B&T