Nigeria’s Proforce Proposes Defence Assembly Plant in Central African Republic After Touadéra Meeting
Nigerian armoured-vehicle maker Proforce has proposed building a defence manufacturing and assembly facility in Bangui after its Group Managing Director met Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, the company said on 2 November. Proforce says the proposal got a positive response from the president; no agreement, investment figure, timeline or product line has been announced.
What Proforce says happened
In a statement posted on its official X account, Proforce said its delegation travelled to Bangui at the invitation of the Central African government. According to the company and Military Africa’s account of the statement, the talks covered bilateral defence cooperation, military modernisation, equipment supply, technical support and industrial development.
The delegation also discussed communications infrastructure, digital broadcasting and satellite technology with Central African officials. As a next step, Proforce says it will host a Central African delegation at its plant in Ode-Remo, Ogun State. No date has been given. The Central African government has not issued its own readout that Defence Mena could find.
Proforce is already known in Bangui
The company’s PF2 armoured personnel carrier has been exported to Rwanda, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, according to defenceWeb, including use on UN peacekeeping missions in CAR and South Sudan. Its main plant at Ode-Remo is reported to have capacity for 20 Ara and 40 PF2 vehicles a month, with a second plant in Port Harcourt. The Nigerian Army’s investment arm took a 15 percent stake in the company in 2021.
The Bangui trip follows a 27 October visit to Proforce’s Ogun State complex by Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, who said the army would deepen its patronage of local defence manufacturers, according to an Army statement carried by Voice of Nigeria.
A buyer with more room to shop
The Central African Armed Forces (FACA) have grown quickly since 2016, and the UN Security Council lifted its arms embargo on the government in July 2024 while keeping restrictions on armed groups. Russia remains Bangui’s main security partner: Touadéra met Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 30 October on the sidelines of the third Russia–Africa Summit. Rwanda also trains FACA troops. A Nigerian supplier offering local assembly would add an African industrial partner to that mix rather than replace either.
Why it matters for African defence industry
Most African defence exports are finished products shipped across borders. An African company setting up assembly in another African country is rare, which is why the proposal matters more than another vehicle sale would, if it goes ahead. It fits the push for continental self-reliance that Nigeria put at the centre of AFRIDEX 2026, and follows Nigerian interest in other African producers such as Rwanda’s REMCO arms plant. For the wider picture, see which African countries manufacture their own weapons.
For now this is a proposal backed by a company statement. A signed agreement, a site in Bangui or the planned Central African visit to Ode-Remo would be the first signs it is moving.
Sources
- Proforce on X: statement on the Bangui visit (2 November 2026)
- Military Africa: Proforce strengthens defence partnership with Central African Republic (4 November 2026)
- defenceWeb: Nigerian Chief of Army Staff visits Proforce
- Voice of Nigeria: Nigerian Army to deepen patronage of indigenous defence manufacturers (28 October 2026)
- Kremlin: conversation with President Touadéra (30 October 2026)
