Nigeria’s evolving defence industry

In March 2026, 15 Vanquisher light armoured personnel carriers, manufactured by the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) in collaboration with Vanquish Industries Limited, were delivered to the Nigerian Army. Being a locally manufactured vehicle, the Vanquisher is an indication of the Nigerian defence industry’s growing self-sufficiency.

The primary player in Nigeria’s defence industry is state-owned DICON, itself run by the Nigerian Armed Forces. Established in 1964, DICON has typically manufactured licensed copies of foreign designs, with a focus on small arms-light weapons (SALW) and body armour. Prominent examples include the NR1, a licensed FN FAL, and the DG-103, a licensed Kalashnikov AK-103 manufactured by the DICON-D7G joint venture.

In recent years, Nigeria’s defence industry capability has expanded to encompass mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles, to meet the Nigerian Army’s demand for such vehicles to conduct counter-insurgency (COIN) missions against groups such as Boko Haram. The most common of these is DICON’s Ezugwu, which was unveiled in 2019. Additionally, Proforce, Nigeria’s first private sector defence business, has manufactured the PF Ara and PF Hulk, with EPAIL Nigeria manufacturing the EPV24 Dodandawa.

DICON and the privately owned Nigerian defence companies have the potential to export their MRAPs to neighbouring countries with similar COIN mission requirements, such as members of the Alliance of Sahel States. Overall, Nigerian-manufactured MRAPs have substantially lower costs than commonly fielded foreign designs fielded by African militaries, such as Turkish company Katmerciler’s Hizir and South African business Denel SOC’s Casspir NG 2000 on account of comparatively lower labour and manufacturing costs. As an example, DICON’s Ezugwu is believed to have an approximate unit cost of N250m ($180,000), which is significantly lower than Nigeria’s procurement of foreign MRAPS, which are reported to have had unit costs ranging between N900m ($650,000) and N1bon ($725,000).

Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) are another platform in which the Nigerian defence industry is developing indigenous designs. Nigeria’s first UAV was the Tsaigumi, which entered service with the Nigerian Air Force in 2018. The UAV was developed by the Nigerian Air Force Research and Development Center with assistance from Portuguese entity UAVision. It has a range of 100km and is designed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in support of COIN operations.

However, there are marked limitations on the ability of Nigeria’s defence industry to achieve a comprehensive level of self-sufficiency. As a case in point, the delivery of the Vanquisher light APCs coincides with the Dagger 4×4, manufactured by French business Arquus. This is a strong indication that Nigeria’s domestic defence players cannot currently entirely capture an individual market segment, such as armored personnel carriers. The result of this is that Nigeria remains predominantly reliant on the import of foreign platforms.

Conclusion

DICON’s Vanquisher is an indication of the Nigerian defence industry increasing in capability, with the vehicle following several MRAP designs. These vehicles would likely have low manufacturing costs, making them an attractive option for COIN-focused militaries in Africa. However, despite indications of an increasing manufacturing capability, Nigeria’s domestic defence players continue to rely on licensing foreign designs. While this presents an opportunity for foreign suppliers to enter the Nigerian defence market, the ability for domestic companies to entirely develop and manufacture their own designs remains relatively modest, with this likely to be the case in the long term.