Professor Renfrew Christie
Photo by: Dylan Slater
A strong, well-led and legitimate defence force, which is underpinned by scientific defence industries, will be vital to ensuring peace on the continent which is the foundation of economic and social development, says University of the Western Cape research dean Professor Renfrew Christie.
To provide the 2.5-billion people in Africa with a safe and secure environment in which they can prosper will require strong defence, police, justice and political resources, as well as advanced science and technology, he told delegates at the Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Conference, in Pretoria, on Tuesday.
Further, he stated that as military logistics are a key requirement of Africa’s future prosperity, a centrally coordinated infrastructure and logistics thrust will be vital.
Roads, railways, electric grids, airways, water supplies, fibre connections, space networks and air links must all have a trans-continental logic, he elaborated.
“If African defence forces cannot put an overwhelming force into the correct space at the right time by 2050, Africa will have no peace or economic future,” Christie said, pointing out that Africa will constitute 26% of the world’s population by 2050.
To ensure the continent prospers, Africa’s militaries must be based on top quality domestic defence industries, while passing on cutting edge science skills to other industries.
“Without good defence forces, which are backed by high-quality, scientific defence industries, Africa will not achieve its social and economic goals over the coming 20 or 30 years,” Christie averred.
Underpinning this, however, is the requirement that Africa’s governments provide sufficient funding to enable Africa’s militaries to buy large quantities of goods and services from domestic defence industries.