South African State-owned defence indus- trial group Denel is developing its strategy for Africa, which has been identified as a potential major market (in addition to the Middle East, South-East Asia and Latin America). The group can supply customers with a wide range of both products and services. To give just some examples, these include unmanned air vehicles, vehicles, a wide range of weapons, maintenance, repair, overhaul and demining.

“Our Africa strategy – I think it is twofold,” says Denel group CEO Riaz Saloojee. “I think we want to substantially increase our business in peacekeeping, peace support and humanitarian operations. We want to work with the AU (African Union), the Standby Force and the SANDF (South African National Defence Force), to increase our support for their rapid deployment in Africa.”

(The Standby Force is a predominantly mili- tary arm of the AU, composed of contingents supplied by member countries and intended for peace support and peacekeeping operations across the continent. On paper, it is composed of a headquarters in Addis Ababa and five regional commands or brigades – Northern, Eastern, Southern, Central and Western. But it is not yet fully operational.)

One key issue is assisting the achievement of interoperability between the systems – especially the communications, but also intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, systems – of the various militaries operating together in multilateral operations.

“Generally, issues around interoperability have come up in a substantial way in, for example, the Democratic Republic of Congo with the [United Nations] Intervention Brigade, composed of South African, Tanzanian and Malawian battalions,” he cites. “We believe we need to start a discussion that allows us, through existing institutional forums, to debate these issues, with Denel assisting with standardisation and interoperability. This will take a long time.”

The second aspect of the group’s Africa strategy is focused on bilateral relationships. The group believes that South Africa’s relationships with other African countries will create opportunities for business, especially in areas which would strengthen the deployability of the partner countries’ armed forces. Maximising these opportunities will, however, require the company to be closely aligned with the policies of the Department of Public Enterprises (under which Denel falls) and the African strategy of the South African government.

“We need to have a much more integrated approach to the way we work in Africa.” Denel does recognise that Africa is a diverse continent with distinct regions which face different (if sometimes related or equivalent) challenges and, even, threats. “We’ve got a strategy looking specifically at East Africa, at West Africa and at Southern Africa and I hope we will have a presence in each of these regions soon,” reports Saloojee. He notes that Denel has technologies that are suitable and appropriate for Africa. “Denel is a good value proposition for Africa.”

“We definitely believe there will be opportunities for us in Africa in vehicles, maintenance, repair and overhaul, surveillance and the mari- time environment,” he affirms. “Historically, Denel hasn’t had a strong enough footprint in Africa. We’re just starting with our Africa strategy. It will take time. And we will need to be flexible and agile.”

At the announcement of Denel’s annual results last month, Saloojee stated: “Our national defence force is becoming more involved in Africa, Denel remains committed to supporting our forces with leading edge technologies and products. This includes in the fields of observation, command and control and other systems to enhance interoperability. In short, we will be there when and where the SANDF needs us . . . With regard to the African continent, Denel will intensify our commitment through an optimised product and service offering as well as long-term collaboration rather than selling. We are already seeing the success of this strategy.”