Manufacturing

Terra Industries expands in Ghana with Pax-2 drone factory. (Image source: Terra Industries)

Terra Industries, a company focused on autonomous security systems designed to protect Africa and its critical infrastructure, has announced the construction of Pax-2, its second manufacturing facility

The new 34,000-square-foot drone production site in Accra will become Terra Industries’ main regional defense manufacturing hub for drone and counter-drone systems.

The announcement comes after the company secured US$34mn in funding to expand manufacturing capacity, speed up deployments, and strengthen engineering teams in Nigeria and allied African nations.

Pax-2 will be Terra’s second Pax Factory, following the 15,000-square-foot Pax-1 flagship site in Abuja. Once fully operational, Pax-2 is expected to become the largest drone factory in Africa, exceeding the scale of Pax-1. By 2028, the facility is projected to reach annual production capacity of 50,000 units across Terra’s aerial systems portfolio.

The Ghana operation is expected to create 120 engineering jobs and run on a continuous production schedule to meet increasing regional demand. Systems to be manufactured there include the Archer VTOL, a long-range surveillance and strike platform; the Iroko UAV, built for rapid tactical deployment; and Terra’s latest platform, Kama, a high-speed interceptor drone developed for counter-drone defense.

Kama is capable of speeds up to 300 km per hour and has been designed for large-scale production to meet growing demand for kinetic interception capabilities.

The expansion into Ghana supports Terra’s broader objective of developing Africa’s sovereign defense-industrial base. It also comes at a time when conflict dynamics are shifting across the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa, where non-state actors are increasingly using modified commercial and fibre-optic drones as attack systems. Similar tactics seen in recent conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe are driving demand for integrated defense solutions combining surveillance, electronic warfare and kinetic response.

“ The only way Africa can have lasting peace is by uniting to build sovereign defense, not by relying on foreign security architecture. We need to control our own destiny by building the tools and systems needed to protect ourselves. That's how this continent defeats terrorism. This is the beginning of that vision playing out more concretely, and we chose Ghana for Pax-2 because of its talent, strategic position, and political will to become a serious defense exporter and prove that this can be done at scale,” commented Nathan Nwachuku, co-founder and CEO of Terra Industries.

Construction of Pax-2 is currently in its final phase, with the facility expected to become fully operational by the end of June 2026.

Terra Industries said the Pax Factories network is central to its long-term Pax Africana vision, centred on achieving lasting peace through African security sovereignty and a future where the continent builds, deploys and controls its own defense technologies.

New funding boosts Nigeria eye care. (Image source: DP World)

DP World has reinforced its commitment to community healthcare in Nigeria by extending its partnership with the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation

The company has announced an additional US$500,000 investment to support the expansion of the TCF Eye Hospital in Abuja, bringing its total contribution to US$1.5mn.

The partnership, which began in 2019, focuses on tackling avoidable blindness, a widespread public health issue affecting thousands across the country. Through this collaboration, both organisations have worked to improve access to affordable and high-quality eye care services for underserved communities.

Mohammed Akoojee, CEO & managing director, DP World Africa, said, “Access to quality eye care is not only a health priority, it is a social and economic imperative. Through our partnership with the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation, DP World is committed to restoring sight, dignity and opportunity for thousands of individuals and families across Nigeria. The impact achieved at the Abuja Eye Hospital demonstrates what is possible when purpose driven organizations collaborate to deliver sustainable, long-term change.”

The initiative is delivered under TCF’s Mission for Vision programme, which aims to expand access to essential eye care. Located in Kukwaba, Abuja, the hospital provides a full range of services, including cataract and glaucoma surgeries, paediatric ophthalmology, low vision care, and community outreach. Its cross-subsidy model enables paying patients to support free treatment for those unable to afford care, ensuring both inclusivity and sustainability.

Since the partnership was established, the hospital has performed 60,000 surgeries, with 63% offered at no cost. Outreach efforts have also extended within a 100-kilometre radius of Abuja, covering screenings, transport, surgical procedures, medication, and follow-up care.

With the latest investment, the hospital will expand its capacity from 82 to 160 beds. Plans are also underway to establish a training institute to develop local ophthalmic and paramedical professionals, strengthening long-term healthcare capacity in Nigeria.

Jagdish Chanrai, chairman of the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation, said, “Our vision has always been to eliminate preventable blindness by ensuring that quality eye care is accessible to all, regardless of economic circumstance. DP World’s continued support enables us to scale our impact, strengthen local capabilities, and reach more communities with sustainable eye care solutions. Together, we are building a model that restores sight today while securing better healthcare outcomes for the future.”

Beyond healthcare initiatives, DP World continues to play a significant role in Nigeria’s economy, operating across logistics, market access services, and freight forwarding, with an estimated contribution of US$6 billion between FY2022 and FY2023, according to independent analysis by Accenture.

DriveRadar enables smarter predictive maintenance across industries. (Image source: SEW-EURODRIVE)

As industries intensify their efforts to cut downtime, reduce maintenance costs and operate with greater energy efficiency, the ability to anticipate equipment issues before they occur has become essential

Predictive maintenance, once considered an emerging technology, is now a core requirement for modern operations and SEW-EURODRIVE is driving this evolution with its advanced DriveRadar IoT Suite.

Across sectors ranging from mining and automotive to agriculture, ports, airports, and food and beverage production, reliable drivetrain performance remains non-negotiable. Willem Strydom, business development manager for electronics at SEW-EURODRIVE, said the market is moving rapidly towards smarter asset intelligence. Customers increasingly want deeper, real-time insights into their operations and DriveRadar provides exactly that through an ecosystem of intelligent sensors, edge devices and cloud-based analytics offering complete operational visibility.

Traditional maintenance practices such as manual plant surveys are proving inadequate in today’s dynamic production environments. Werner Engelbrecht, works manager megatronic at SEW-EURODRIVE, noted that these surveys often become outdated quickly as equipment is replaced or repaired. DriveRadar, by contrast, captures every new item added to the plant, offering a live, accurate and continuously updated asset overview. As plant layouts and equipment evolve, this real-time accuracy becomes vital for effective decision-making.

The benefits extend beyond visibility, with predictive capability at the heart of preventing failures. Engelbrecht explained that operators who respond to the system’s insights can avoid catastrophic breakdowns entirely. This also reduces the need for personnel to conduct repetitive physical inspections, freeing human resources for more strategic maintenance work.

A key differentiator of DriveRadar is its reliance on SEW-EURODRIVE’s integrated drivetrain ecosystem rather than third-party add-on sensors. Strydom highlights that the company’s frequency inverters function as highly accurate, multi-function sensors. Each inverter measures time of operation, energy consumption, load and torque and detects vibrations or shocks - generating hundreds of parameters per device.

With additional motor sensors and advanced vibration sensors where required, DriveRadar collects data such as temperature, ambient conditions, oil levels and ageing indicators, load variations and vibration signatures extracted directly from motor harmonics.

All this information is combined to create a digital twin of each drivetrain. The digital twin uses AI-driven models to learn normal operating behaviour from the moment equipment is commissioned. Any deviation from this baseline is detected immediately, enabling early identification of bearing damage, prediction of brake lining life, forecasting of oil change intervals, detection of structural faults and identification of load inefficiencies. Importantly, the system is capable of monitoring non-SEW-EURODRIVE components as well, making it suitable for entire applications such as conveyors or pick-and-place machinery.

Accessibility is another major advantage. DriveRadar allows data to be stored in the SEW-EURODRIVE cloud, the customer’s private cloud or local servers and can integrate with existing SCADA systems. Users can access full equipment data and generate reports from mobile devices, including in remote regions using GSM or SIM-based communication. This mobility is particularly valued by maintenance teams who can identify issues immediately without physically walking the plant.

To support customers in adopting these advanced tools, SEW-EURODRIVE has invested extensively in training. The company now offers training both on site and through its Drive Academy in Johannesburg.

NewSpace Systems opens Africa's largest space hardware facility, expanding capacity for global satellite supply chains. (Image source: NewSpace Systems)

NewSpace Systems has officially opened a new 5,200 m² manufacturing facility in Somerset West, South Africa, now the largest commercial space component and subsystem manufacturing site on the African continent

The expansion significantly increases the region’s capacity to support the global satellite supply chain.

The purpose built facility is designed to meet the high volume production requirements of modern satellite constellations. NSS, Africa’s largest exporter of space utilised hardware, supports the majority of commercial spacecraft manufacturers globally.

The development marks an important step in the company's transition from a specialised component provider to a high cadence industrial manufacturer. Since construction began in October 2024, NSS has focused on scaling its Guidance, Navigation, and Control product lines. This growth has been driven by the rapid expansion of Low Earth Orbit constellations, which require flight proven hardware that can be produced at scale without compromising quality. NSS products, including sun sensors and reaction wheels, are currently used on spacecraft weighing up to six tons.

The facility features advanced infrastructure designed to meet stringent IPC and ECSS aerospace standards. It includes a 1,260 m² ISO 14644 1 certified cleanroom, a 120 m² engineering laboratory for research and development, and specialised areas such as Helmholtz coil calibration zones for magnetically sensitive hardware, dark rooms for optical testing, and thermal and vibration testing environments. Production is supported by 6S LEAN certified assembly lines to ensure consistent and precise manufacturing.

“Big, beautiful, and built for space manufacturing,” said Tanya Lerm, CEO of NewSpace Systems.

“Every corner of this cleanroom reflects our commitment to quality, reliability, and mission success. From the controlled air environment to the precision our customers demand, every aspect of this facility was engineered to deliver hardware that performs flawlessly in space.”

By consolidating design, qualification, and manufacturing in one location, NSS maintains vertical integration, enabling competitive pricing while adhering to international standards.