Africa’s most well-funded defence technology firm, Terra Industries, is constructing a 34,000-square-foot drone factory in Accra, Ghana, which it claims will be the largest on the continent when it starts operations in June 2026.
This is the company’s first production expansion outside of its homebase Nigeria.
The Pax-2 plant in Accra is more than double the size of Terra’s flagship 15,000-square-foot factory in Abuja, and it aims to produce 50,000 units annually by 2028.
In a statement, Nathan Nwachuku, co-founder and CEO of Terra, said, “The only way Africa can have lasting peace is by uniting to build sovereign defence, not by relying on foreign security architecture.”
He said Ghana was chosen because of its talent pool and political will to become a serious defence exporter.
In addition to producing three of Terra’s aerial systems—the Archer VTOL, a long-range surveillance and strike platform; the Iroko UAV, for quick tactical deployment; and Kama, a recently revealed 300 km/h interceptor drone intended for counter-drone defense—the facility will generate 120 engineering jobs.
Terra, which was founded in 2024 by Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, is the most funded defense-tech firm on the continent after raising $34 million in two rounds in 2026. A $22 million follow-on led by Lux Capital, with participation from Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola’s Resilience17 Capital, follows a $11.75 million deal led by 8VC in January.
Based on US defence companies Anduril and Palantir, the company offers defence hardware, such as drones, along with its exclusive ArtemisOS software for recurring fees. It claims to have already safeguarded assets worth about $11 billion in eight African nations, including oil refineries, hydropower stations, and lithium mines.
The Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, the state-run defence branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces, and Terra signed a memorandum of understanding in February to form a joint venture for local assembly and training, which is what led to the Ghana expansion.
Executed under the DICON Act 2023, which permits the corporation to pursue public-private partnerships, the agreement integrated Terra into Nigeria’s formal defence manufacturing structure. The company also appointed Nnamdi Chife, a counter-insurgency specialist, as Vice President of Military Relations.
Non-state actors have already launched drone assaults against eleven African nations, with armed gangs repurposing inexpensive commercial drones by affixing homemade explosives.
In response, Sahelian military have made significant investments in offensive Turkish drones; Mali has at least 17 Bayraktar TB2s; Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have all added the more sophisticated Akıncı, but their counter-drone defences have lagged.
Per the Institute for Security Studies, the area lacks the capabilities to identify and destroy small, low-flying commercial drones, leaving vital infrastructure vulnerable. Kama is being positioned by Terra to close that gap.
According to the corporation, Pax-2 construction is nearing completion, and the facility should be completely operating by the end of June 2026.
Terra’s claim that African defence buyers will select a domestic prime over reputable foreign suppliers will be tested if it can turn its funding lead into long-term government contracts, especially with the Confederation of Sahel States, which has severed ties with ECOWAS and is actively acquiring drone systems.
