President Bola Tinubu has warned that equipment purchases alone cannot guarantee Africa’s security, urging countries to ensure that defence partnerships promote technology transfer, develop local industries and build the expertise needed to sustain military capabilities.
He urged African countries to make defence partnerships deliver local expertise, industrial growth and sustainable military capabilities.
He spoke at the opening ceremony of the Africa International Defence Exhibition 2026 in Lagos on Monday, where he was represented by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
The President said the continent’s growing security challenges required stronger military cooperation, but stressed that partnerships must leave African countries with the capacity to sustain their own defence systems.
“Every major acquisition should help develop skills, transfer knowledge, strengthen local industry and deepen our capacity to maintain what we operate,” Tinubu said.
He added that the value of a defence partnership should be measured by the expertise and institutional strength it created in African countries.
“The measure of a successful partnership is the capability it leaves behind. African engineers must gain expertise; African enterprises must grow; African institutions must become stronger,” he said.
Tinubu said the continent’s security challenges had become increasingly interconnected, spanning terrorism, insurgency, banditry, piracy, cyber threats and emerging technologies.
“From the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel, from our territorial borders to cyberspace and outer space, the threats confronting us are becoming more complex and interconnected,” he said.
He warned that insecurity continued to undermine lives, livelihoods, trade and development, insisting that Africa’s security required collective attention.
“Africa’s security must therefore command our collective attention, because there can be no enduring prosperity where fear governs daily life,” he said.
The President said Nigeria’s experience with terrorism, insurgency, banditry and piracy had demonstrated the cost of insecurity, while commending the Armed Forces for their sacrifices.
He said the sacrifices of military personnel placed an obligation on governments to provide the leadership, equipment, training and institutional support required to confront security threats.
“We have also learned that lasting security requires strong institutions, public trust, reliable partnerships and the industrial capacity to sustain our defence capabilities,” he said.
Tinubu also called for predictable funding, adequate equipment and rigorous training for African-led peace operations, warning that troops deployed to conflict zones must have the resources to carry out their assignments.
“The courage to respond to crises must be matched by predictable resources, adequate equipment, rigorous training and sustained institutional support.
“Those we send to keep the peace must have the means to keep the peace,” he said.
On maritime security, the President said African countries must strengthen cooperation to protect the Gulf of Guinea, which he described as vital to trade, energy security and economic prosperity.
He urged governments to ensure that legitimate commerce could thrive while criminal networks were denied safe havens.
Tinubu also called for greater investment in cyber capabilities, space technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, saying Africa needed the institutions and knowledge to understand and responsibly deploy emerging technologies.
“Our young people have the talent; our responsibility is to create the opportunity,” he said.
He described AFRIDEX 2026 as an opportunity to convert the continent’s potential into practical defence capabilities, urging participating countries to ensure that agreements reached at the exhibition produced tangible results.
“Let the partnerships formed here strengthen our readiness; let the knowledge exchanged here inspire our innovators; and let the commitments made here produce results our people can see,” Tinubu said.
He said the ultimate objective was to build African countries where security supported economic opportunity and public confidence.