Ethiopia and Nigeria are joining forces to develop a fleet of African-made aerial drones capable of civilian and military applications.
In July 2025, Ethiopian officials hosted members of the Nigerian Air Force on tours of Ethiopia’s aircraft manufacturing and maintenance facilities. Nigeria has promised the Ethiopians a reciprocal visit focused on Nigeria’s military training institutions.
The visits are the latest step toward increasing the number of indigenous African unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in a market flooded by technology imported from China, Iran and Turkey.
By pooling resources, two of the continent’s most experienced dronemakers and users can develop a homegrown solution to African nations’ demand for drone technology, according to analysts Ekene Lionel and Patrick Kenyette. They also might inspire other African nations to develop similar joint ventures.
“This partnership carries implications far beyond the immediate goal of UAV co-production,” Lionel and Kenyette wrote for Military Africa. “It represents a model of how African nations can address shared challenges through cooperation, leveraging their strengths to achieve collective progress.”
Nigeria has established itself as a hub for drone manufacturing. The country’s first drone, the Tsaigumi, was released in 2018 for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Nigeria more recently has developed a kamikaze drone known as the Damisa in partnership with technology company Briech UAS. Africa’s largest drone factory, TerraHaptix, has the capacity to produce 10,000 units a year in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
Ethiopia inaugurated state-run SkyWin Aeronautics Industries in March 2025 to begin manufacturing drones at a factory in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described his nation’s new drone capabilities as “unimaginable just a few years ago.”
Egypt, Kenya, South Africa and Sudan also are producing drones. Morocco established a factory in 2024 to assemble Israeli-designed WanderB and ThunderB drones. Morocco has used those UAVs for reconnaissance, intelligence and target acquisition missions.