Posts Tagged Africa

Company Spotlight: Paramount Group Talks About Security In Africa

Dec 20

Posted by Matt in Africa, Aviation, Company Spotlight | No Comments

Below I have posted a couple of interesting stories about Paramount Group and it’s background. As you can see from it’s Wikipedia page, it is heavily involved with a lot of areas of defense in Africa and they are the largest PMSC in Africa. So when Ivor Ichikowitz (the founder and executive chairperson of the company) talks about private security in Africa, I tend to listen.

I also posted a side deal about an aircraft they donated to help in the war against Rhino poachers. This is a great move by the company because poachers are destroying one of Africa’s top treasures–it’s animals. They also had a vehicle showcased in the popular TV show called Top Gear.

The last article I posted below was not about Paramount Group specifically, but about private security in Africa in general. It talked about the focus of other large companies like G4S in Africa, and it is a great compare and contrast article after reading what Paramount mentioned. If companies want to know what to focus on when delving into this market, it pays to study the market leaders of this continent. Check it out. -Matt

 

 

From the website

Paramount Group is the largest privately owned defence and aerospace business in Africa, providing fully integrated turnkey solutions to global defence, peacekeeping and internal security forces.
Since its inception in 1994, Paramount has built strong relationships with governments and government agencies in over 30 countries around the world, earning an enviable reputation as a trusted advisor in the industry.
The Group is a leading innovator in the design and development of state-of-the-art products that it manufactures in locations throughout the world.  It is partnered with some of the world’s largest and most reputable organisations in the global defence community. The Paramount Group has the ability to understand its client requirements and to use its unique knowledge and experience to design cost-effective, future-proof solutions. As a result, Paramount has enjoyed strong growth and achieved an excellent track record of delivering successful projects.

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From Wikipedia
Paramount Group is a group of companies operating in the global defence, internal security and peacekeeping industries. It was founded in South Africa in 1994 and offers a range of armoured vehicles, military aircraft, equipment and training to governments.
The company was founded by South African entrepreneur and industrialist Ivor Ichikowitz. The Group is based in South Africa, with its headquarters near Johannesburg.
Paramount Group manufactures a range of armoured vehicles – the Maverick, Mbombe, Matador and Marauder – and in 2011 unveiled AHRLAC, a long-range reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft. AHRLAC is the first aircraft to be designed and built from scratch in Africa.
The business has government clients in 28 countries and partnerships with leading international defence and aerospace players, including Aerosud Holdings Ltd, its partner in the development of AHRLAC (Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft).
In February 2011, Paramount Group announced a joint venture with Abu Dhabi – based defence business International Golden Group to market and distribute Paramount Group’s products and services in the United Arab Emirates.
Paramount Group’s Marauder featured in an episode of the BBC’s Top Gear programme. Television show presenter Richard Hammond took the vehicle on a test drive in South Africa to put the vehicle through its paces in comparison to a Humvee in a bid to find ‘the world’s toughest car.’ The programme was broadcast in July 2011.
AHRLAC was launched in September 2011 and described by commentators, including the Wall Street Journal, as filling a niche for a versatile, low-cost aircraft.

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Security Is Key To Africa’s Economic Rise
By Ivor Ichikowitz, chairman of Paramount Group, Africa’s biggest private defence company.
Ivor Ichikowitz reports
22 November 2012
The most important single factor in boosting an emerging economy is a stable state. I believe that all things flow from this.
Capitalism is the most powerful driving force behind Africa’s economic development but businesses must be able to be run without the fear of suddenly losing all their assets in unexpected or undemocratic changes in government.
Criminals, terrorists and rebel groups further undermine economic activity across the continent and need to be effectively countered. It has been estimated, for example, that over 10% of Nigeria’s oil production is stolen between source and sale by criminal gangs, including groups who tap directly into long pipelines that are extremely vulnerable to theft in isolated areas.

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Industry Talk: Erik Prince Starts Africa Focused Investment Firm With Frontier Resource Group

Nov 20

Posted by Matt in Africa, China, Industry Talk | No Comments

Prince, who credits the Navy SEALs with bringing out his entrepreneurial spirit, said there were two main risks that perhaps every businessman in Africa must face.
The first one is the political risk in some countries, and the second is the very bad transportation and infrastructure, which means a high cost of doing business there.
“If you can’t get to market cheaply enough, that’s not interesting,” Prince said.
Many foreign investors came to Africa purely for its natural resources, he said, but they forgot that transporting those resources was as important as exploring and producing them.

This is interesting news. As I mentioned before in prior posts, Africa will be a top focus for PMSC’s just because of all the business and resource extraction potential there. A company like Frontier Resource Group can easily be the company that can link the investors with those PMSC’s that could protect and insure those investments in Africa. Or at the least, FRG can help to identify those investments with the highest chance of success based on the risk assessments done by FRG.

The mention of Chinese investors partnering with FRG is key as well. I mentioned in prior posts about an increase in business for South African PMSC’s or consultants from the Chinese, and it would make sense that Prince would want to step in and serve this particular group of investors. -Matt

Website for Frontier Resource Group here.

 

Into Africa: Ex-navy SEAL sets trail for investors
November 19, 2012
By George Chen
Erik Prince of Blackwater fame has set up a company that will be the ‘search radar’ to help firms manage the risks of investing there
The man who built up Blackwater – the giant private security force that guarded US diplomats in some of the world’s most dangerous places, including Afghanistan and Iraq – sees Africa as his future.
After Erik Prince sold his firm to investors about two years ago, the former officer in the Navy SEALs – the special US military force that killed Osama bin Laden last year – set up a new company called Frontier Resource Group (FRG) early this year.
FRG is an Africa-dedicated investment firm partnered with major Chinese enterprises, including at least one state-owned resource giant that is keen to pour money into the resource-rich continent.
“Africa is so far the most unexplored part of the world, and I think China has seen a lot of promise in Africa,” Prince said during a brief trip to Hong Kong last week to meet potential Chinese investors and partners. “But the problem is if you go alone, you bear the country risk on your own. You have to get support and maintenance there,” Prince, FRG’s managing partner, told the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview.

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Somalia: MPRI In The News–US Trains African Soldiers For Somalia Mission

May 14

Posted by Matt in Africa, Industry Talk, Somalia | 4 Comments

This is a cool little article that mentioned the work that MPRI is doing currently in Africa as part of the ACOTA program. It just shows how important companies like this, or Bancroft Global, Dyncorp, Halliday Finch or Sterling Corporate Services are to the task of trying to stabilize Somalia. -Matt

 

U.S. trains African soldiers for Somalia mission
By Craig Whitlock
May 13, 2012
The heart of the Obama administration’s strategy for fighting al-Qaeda militants in Somalia can be found next to a cow pasture here, a thousand miles from the front lines.
Under the gaze of American instructors, gangly Ugandan recruits are taught to carry rifles, dodge roadside bombs and avoid shooting each other by accident. In one obstacle course dubbed “Little Mogadishu,” the Ugandans learn the basics of urban warfare as they patrol a mock city block of tumble-down buildings and rusty shipping containers designed to resemble the battered and dangerous Somali capital.
“Death is Here! No One Leaves,” warns the fake graffiti, which, a little oddly, is spray-painted in English instead of Somali. “GUNS $ BOOMS,” reads another menacing tag.
Despite the warnings, the number of recruits graduating from this boot camp — built with U.S. taxpayer money and staffed by State Department contractors — has increased in recent months. The current class of 3,500 Ugandan soldiers, the biggest since the camp opened five years ago, is preparing to deploy to Somalia to join a growing international force composed entirely of African troops but largely financed by Washington.

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Maritime Security: Pete Bethune And Team To Battle Illegal Fishing In Africa

Apr 23

Posted by Matt in Africa, Maritime Security | No Comments

Bethune says, “I stood on a beach in Mozambique and watched the poachers just off shore. The sheer numbers of illegal longliners and trawlers raping the waters of fish is astounding. The lack of resources available to stop them is frightening – Mozambique has just one vessel to patrol 3000km of coastline. The poachers continue to take millions of tonnes of fish that does not belong to them with no fear of reprisals. They laugh in the face of the law.”-From the Earth Race Conservation website.

Thanks to Fredrik for sending me this. Pete Bethune is famous for being arrested by Japan during anti-whaling operations a couple of years back. Now he is getting into the game of battling poachers on the high seas, who illegally fish in areas off the coast of Africa. Interesting, and we will see how this goes for them.

Also, I have no details on this other than what is in the video below. He does have a website and you can follow along with his team’s efforts in the future. I have no idea if Mozambique is the country they will work out of, or if they have a different place to go.

On a funny side note, he used Captain Morgan rum to christen his new vessel. Captain Morgan rum got it’s name from the famed ‘privateer’ named Sir Henry Morgan, and I thought that was an interesting choice of bottle.  Check it out. -Matt

 

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Cool Stuff: Rhino Wars

Mar 14

Posted by Matt in Africa | No Comments

This is an excellent article and photo series that National Geographic put together. It puts into perspective what is going on with rhino poaching and how powerful of an offense industry this is. That horn has value, and criminals are willing to risk much to go after that horn. In turn, that process is leading to the destruction of the animal.

Hopefully a defense industry can come up that can compete with this, or the animal will be hunted into extinction. Or perhaps an offense industry is required to defeat this offense industry?

I should also note that elephants are being targeted for their ivory as well. (read about this slaughter of elephants in Cameroon) Asia is creating such a strong demand for all of this stuff, and as places like China become more wealthy, then the buyers with money will only increase. This is a very unique war indeed, and it will definitely take extreme measures to stop it. -Matt

 

Rivaling the price of gold on the black market, rhino horn is at the center of a bloody poaching battle.

Rhino Wars
March 2012
By Peter Gwin
The rifle shot boomed through the darkening forest just as Damien Mander arrived at his campfire after a long day training game ranger recruits in western Zimbabwe’s Nakavango game reserve. His thoughts flew to Basta, a pregnant black rhinoceros, and her two-year-old calf. That afternoon one of his rangers had discovered human footprints following the pair’s tracks as Basta sought cover in deep bush to deliver the newest member of her threatened species.
Damien, a hard-muscled former Australian Special Forces sniper with an imposing menagerie of tattoos, including “Seek & Destroy” in gothic lettering across his chest, swiveled his head, trying to place the direction of the shot. “There, near the eastern boundary,” he pointed into the blackness. “Sounded like a .223,” he said, identifying the position and caliber, a habit left over from 12 tours in Iraq. He and his rangers grabbed shotguns, radios, and medical kits and piled into two Land Cruisers. They roared into the night, hoping to cut off the shooter. The rangers rolled down their windows and listened for a second shot, which would likely signal Basta’s calf was taken as well.
It was an ideal poacher’s setup: half-moon, almost no wind. The human tracks were especially ominous. Poaching crews often pay trackers to find the rhinos, follow them until dusk, then radio their position to a shooter with a high-powered rifle. After the animal is down, the two horns on its snout are hacked off in minutes, and the massive carcass is left to hyenas and vultures. Nearly always the horns are fenced to an Asian buyer; an enterprising crew might also cut out Basta’s fetus and the eyes of the mother and calf to sell to black magic or muti practitioners. If this gang was well organized, a group of heavily armed men would be covering the escape route, ready to ambush the rangers.

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Kenya: The Government Teams Up With PSC’s For Counter-Terrorism Efforts

Feb 14

Posted by Matt in Africa, Al Qaeda, Industry Talk, Kenya | No Comments

Kenya’s private security industry is undergoing radical changes triggered by numerous threats arising from terrorism activities in the country. The firms are struggling to meet new demands that seek to align their operations with those of government security agencies. Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the idea is to ensure that security guards complement police and other agencies like the National Security Intelligence Service and the military in the war against terrorism.
Kenya has been on high security alert since October last year when the military entered Somalia in Operation Linda Nchi, to fight Al-Shabaab. “We need these people (private guards) because some of them are very well-trained and professional. But in the end we need an Act to inculcate professionalism across the board,” said Mr Kiraithe.

Below I have posted two articles that discuss the latest efforts that the Kenyan government is taking in order to work with and regulate their PSC industry in order to better prepare them for counter-terror efforts. The reason why this is important to Kenya is that terrorism has increased in their country and it is a threat to their tourism industry. It is also a threat to the population itself, and thanks to their neighbor called Somalia, they have plenty of pirates and jihadists to deal with.

The company mentioned in this first article is called XFOR Security Solutions. It is a UK company and they are teaming up with police officers from Kenya to train other PSC’s in the country.

He said the Security firms can play a big role in bringing security services closer to members of the public.
“We have carried out training in Nairobi where we meet various security heads from different sectors to educate them on various ways to identify and counter terrorism and we hope to extend the training to North Eastern,” said Mr Lincon-Hope.
The training comes a few months after a French woman and a British Couple were kidnapped while on holiday in Kiwayu, a few kilometres north of Lamu.

Tourism is also a big component of Kenya’s economy, and with so many other threats to their economy, it would make sense that they would try to shore up their security services there. From high oil prices to droughts, Kenya is having to take measures to better their economic prospects. So enter the private security market and the current requirements for protecting the resorts and game reserves.

The second article below talks about the government’s regulatory efforts. Notice how there is more of an emphasis on how to create a system of rules and laws that will make PSC’s more of an asset in Kenya’s efforts to counter terror and crime. That is great, and this is how a government should view their PSC’s–as strategic national security assets, and not as a liabilities.

National Private Security Workers Union secretary-general Thomas Alloyce said:
“Once the law is passed, requirements for one to offer private security will be expanded. Guards will undergo training in bomb detection and disposal, VIP protection and counter- terrorism strategies.”
In the draft stage, the Bill faced hurdles over some proposed sections.
For instance, the issuance of firearms to security guards.
“We are safer when we have as many people out there each with qualifications in certain security areas.”

I wish Kenya well with their efforts and we will see how things go. If any readers have anything to add, feel free to comment below. -Matt

 

Coast police officer Aggrey Adoli with security staff from various hotels along the coastline after they attended an anti-terrorism training organised by XFOR security Solutions-Kenya on February 13, 2012. Photo/LABAN WALLOGA

Police train private security firms’ staff on explosives in war against terrorism
By ANTHONY KITIMO
February 13  2012
The fight against terrorism continued to gather momentum after the government teamed up with private security firms to seek a joint solution to the crime.
It is seen as a decisive step by the government to restore confidence to tourists following last year’s two abduction cases in Lamu by Somali bandits.
On Monday, the police department promised to work closely with private security firms in Coast Province, particularly along the 600 kilometre coastline to prevent any further terrorists attacks.
A joint training is being conducted in Mombasa, organised by a British based security private firm, XFOR Security Solution and top police officers.
They are gathered at the Nyali Reef Hotel to coach more than 100 participants from different security firms.
Detecting explosives
The trainees will learn various ways of detecting explosives and how to collect intelligence in their respective work places, especially in hotels and other business premises, such as supermarkets.
The merger comes days after a security firm, Brinks Security based in Mombasa aided in the arrest of a British who was taking pictures near the Central Bank, Mombasa branch and various sensitive premises in Mombasa town.
Speaking while opening the training, Coast Provincial Police boss Aggrey Adoli and provincial Anti-Terrorism department head Elijah Rop said the knowledge will ensure private security firms’ employees are conversant with various explosives which might be a threat to the business they offer security services to.

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