Turkish defense firm Havelsan seeks to enhance businesses in Africa

A leading Turkish defense firm Havelsan aims to expand its businesses in Africa by meeting the defense needs of "friendly and brotherly" African countries, a senior official said.

The defense firm also wants to establish strategic partnerships with African nations within Türkiye's African Initiative vision, Havelsan General Manager Mehmet Akif Nacar told Anadolu.

Pointing out that the company opened on the continent during the coronavirus pandemic, Nacar said: "Our marketing activities accelerated with regular reciprocal visits and participation in regional fairs and conferences as of 2019. At this point, Havelsan's brand recognition has increased considerably in various countries."

Noting that the firm had attended the African Airforce Forum for the third time in a row since its inception, he said: "We will participate wherever it is organized next year to create business opportunities."

He stressed that the Turkish-made Baha UAV, combat management systems, training systems, and training simulators are among Havelsan's standout products and solutions for Africa.

"We want to provide many projects in Africa, and we also offer our products through our partners in Türkiye. We sold a number of products such as Baha, Barkan (unmanned ground vehicle), and shooting simulators," he said.

Nacar explained that Havelsan sold Advent (Network Enabled Data Integrated Combat Management System) through a battleship project signed by a Turkish company with the Nigerian Navy last June, making Nigeria the seventh country to which Advent is exported.

Stressing that the Baha system was also provided through another Turkish company's project undertaken in Nigeria, the general manager said the company seeks to export Baha to other African countries.

"We believe that Baha will have a grip in the market thanks to the fact that it is a small system, has an affordable price and is easy to use," he said. "Baha will be a beginning and other countries will take this (the use of Baha in Nigeria) as an example and seek for our products."

Nacar highlighted that the company plans to provide Atak helicopter simulators in the coming period as the number of Atak helicopters increases in Nigeria.

Havelsan conducts business development activities with all other African countries, particularly Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Gambia in the sub-Sahara, and Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Senegal and Cameroon in the north and the Francophone African region.

"We see very genuine interest in Nigeria because they are very fed up with previous bad experiences such as buying at a much expensive cost, not being able to get maintenance support, or getting it too expensive and not being able to use the system properly," he said.

Given the historical context and friendly and brotherly relations between Türkiye and Nigeria, he believes that Turkish Airlines' daily flights to the country on Africa's western coast provide an advantage for Havelsan to develop businesses there.

"We think that Africa will be a shining economy of the future, that it contains business opportunities, and that the future is open for cultural and economic cooperation," he added.