Ethiopia and Nigeria are collaborating to develop a fleet of African-made drones for both civilian and military use.
Towards furthering the collaboration, Ethiopian officials recently hosted Nigerian Air Force (NAF) members on tours of the country’s aircraft manufacturing and maintenance facilities, with Nigeria promising a reciprocal visit to showcase its military training institutions.
The partnership aims to expand the number of locally produced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a market currently dominated by imports from China, Iran, and Turkey.
Nigeria has emerged as a hub for drone manufacturing, producing its first UAV, the Tsaigumi, in 2018 for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
More recently, the country developed a kamikaze drone, the Damisa, in partnership with Nigerian tech firm Briech UAS.
Nigeria’s TerraHaptix factory in Abuja, Africa’s largest drone facility, can produce up to 10,000 drones annually.
Ethiopia inaugurated its state-run SkyWin Aeronautics Industry in March, establishing drone manufacturing capabilities in Addis Ababa.
Other African nations, including Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, and Morocco, are also investing in drone production.
Morocco opened a factory in 2024 to assemble Israeli WanderB and ThunderB drones, which it has used for reconnaissance, intelligence, and target acquisition missions.
(Courtesy: Birr Metrics, Ethiopia)
