Nigerian defence manufacturer Proforce Industries Limited has strengthened its defence partnership with the Central African Republic (CAR), following a strategic visit to Bangui by a delegation led by the company’s Group Managing Director at the official invitation of the Central African Government.
During the visit, the delegation was received by His Excellency, Professor Faustin-Archange Touadéra, President of the Central African Republic. Discussions focused on strengthening bilateral defence cooperation, military modernisation, defence equipment supply, technical support and industrial development.
The talks come months after Touadéra was sworn in for a third term on 30 March 2026, having won 77.9 percent of the vote in the December 2025 election according to the Constitutional Council, on a platform built largely around security and peace.
A proposed manufacturing and assembly facility in Bangui
The central item on the agenda was Proforce’s proposal to establish a defence manufacturing and assembly facility in Bangui, which, according to the company, received a positive response from the President. The proposed facility is expected to strengthen local production capacity, support technology transfer and create opportunities for industrial development.
No timeline, investment figure or product line for the facility has been made public. An assembly plant of this kind would most likely begin with the final assembly and maintenance of vehicles and protective equipment supplied from Nigeria, a model that allows a customer country to build up technical skills and a local supply chain before moving to more complex manufacturing.
Beyond defence, the delegation also engaged relevant government officials on opportunities in communications infrastructure, digital broadcasting and satellite technology. These areas mirror Proforce’s own diversification at home, where it has worked with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) on space technology and with the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) on research and development.
Proforce’s existing footprint in Central Africa
The Central African Republic is not a new market for the Ogun State-based company. Military Africa reported in 2021 that Proforce’s PF2 armoured personnel carrier had been exported to Rwanda, the Central African Republic and South Sudan, as well as supplied to Nigeria. In the same year, the Nigerian Army, through its investment arm Nigerian Army Welfare Limited by Guarantee, acquired a 15 percent shareholding in the company.
Proforce’s best-known export remains the Ara mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle. In 2019 Chad ordered twenty improved Ara 2 vehicles after South Africa’s Denel failed to deliver an earlier order. The company’s armoured vehicle range has since grown to include the PF Viper, the PF Hulk, which the Nigerian Army has bought in batches, and most recently the PF Terminator MRAP unveiled at the Nigerian Army Day Celebration in October 2026, a 15,000-kilogram vehicle carrying up to 12 personnel.
A growing Central African army
Proforce’s approach comes as the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) continue to expand after more than a decade of conflict. Touadéra told the National Assembly in December 2025 that the army had grown from about 6,000 personnel in 2016 to 26,000 in 2025, with 14 territorial infantry battalions, three rapid reaction battalions and three special forces battalions deployed, three more special forces battalions being formed, and a target of 50,000 troops by 2040.
Bangui is also freer to buy equipment than it has been in years. The United Nations Security Council lifted its arms embargo on the government in July 2024, after easing it in 2023, while keeping restrictions on supplies to armed groups. The country’s security partners include Russia, whose personnel have trained Central African forces, and Rwanda, whose defence force has trained hundreds of FACA soldiers. A Nigerian supplier offering local assembly and technical support would add an African industrial partner to that mix.
Next stop: Ode-Remo
As a follow-up, Proforce will host a delegation from the Central African Republic at its manufacturing facility in Ode-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria, to further explore technical capabilities and advance discussions on areas of cooperation. The date of that visit has not been announced.
The company describes the Bangui visit as an important step in its commitment to expanding its defence manufacturing footprint and strengthening strategic partnerships across Africa. If the proposed facility goes ahead, it would be one of the few cases of an African defence manufacturer setting up production in another African country, an outcome that would carry more weight for intra-African defence industrial cooperation than another equipment sale.