AGL 40.05 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.13%)
AIRLINK 129.80 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (0.21%)
BOP 6.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.75%)
CNERGY 4.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-3.89%)
DCL 8.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.33 (-3.69%)
DFML 40.65 Decreased By ▼ -1.04 (-2.49%)
DGKC 80.50 Decreased By ▼ -3.27 (-3.9%)
FCCL 32.69 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.24%)
FFBL 75.61 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (0.19%)
FFL 11.66 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (1.66%)
HUBC 109.47 Decreased By ▼ -1.08 (-0.98%)
HUMNL 13.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.57 (-3.91%)
KEL 5.38 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.19%)
KOSM 7.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.41 (-4.88%)
MLCF 38.90 Decreased By ▼ -0.89 (-2.24%)
NBP 64.00 Increased By ▲ 3.71 (6.15%)
OGDC 195.61 Decreased By ▼ -4.05 (-2.03%)
PAEL 25.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.82 (-3.08%)
PIBTL 7.42 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-3.13%)
PPL 156.45 Decreased By ▼ -1.47 (-0.93%)
PRL 25.81 Decreased By ▼ -0.92 (-3.44%)
PTC 17.45 Decreased By ▼ -1.01 (-5.47%)
SEARL 79.00 Decreased By ▼ -3.44 (-4.17%)
TELE 7.88 Decreased By ▼ -0.43 (-5.17%)
TOMCL 33.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.81 (-2.35%)
TPLP 8.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.62 (-6.84%)
TREET 16.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.88 (-5.04%)
TRG 58.00 Decreased By ▼ -3.32 (-5.41%)
UNITY 27.56 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.47%)
WTL 1.40 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (1.45%)
BR100 10,514 Increased By 107.8 (1.04%)
BR30 31,342 Decreased By -371.5 (-1.17%)
KSE100 97,952 Increased By 624.1 (0.64%)
KSE30 30,509 Increased By 316.4 (1.05%)

South African defence company Paramount Group expects to sign agreements with four African governments this year to set up production facilities in their countries, its chairman said on Sunday. Paramount, Africa's largest privately owned defence firm, has established manufacturing capabilities to meet demand from specific domestic markets before, including in India, Jordan, and Kazakhstan.
It is in talks with four countries in west and east Africa over deals that it expects to sign this year. A further three agreements could be signed in southern Africa in two years' time. "Africa really is innovative," Ivor Ichikowitz told Reuters at the IDEX military exhibition in Abu Dhabi.
"There is a huge amount of skill. There is a huge amount of human capital on the African continent that makes what we are planning to do very achievable." Paramount, which has maintenance and overhaul operations in Africa, has started to implement some agreements, he said, declining to disclose further details.
The company manufactures military vehicles, aircraft, ships, and weapons systems. It is also interested in working with governments on software, cyber security, and artificial intelligence, Ichikowitz said. Commenting on the potential shape of any deals, the company prefers to be a majority shareholder in a government joint venture with concessions to build domestic capabilities, he said.
"We would implement long-term training, long-term capacity creation programs which would ultimately put us in a position where we are building a domestic defence industry in that country." Paramount has previously held talks with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two Middle East countries heavily investing in domestic defence industries.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

Comments

Comments are closed.