24-Year-Old Nigerian Founder Breaks Ground On Africa’s Largest Drone Factory In Ghana

A 24-year-old Nigerian entrepreneur is behind the construction of what is set to become Africa’s largest drone manufacturing facility, located in Accra, Ghana. Nathan Nwachuku, co-founder and chief executive of defence technology startup Terra Industries, is building the 34,000-square-foot plant named Pax-2, which is scheduled to become fully operational by the end of June 2026.

The facility more than doubles the size of the company’s flagship 15,000-square-foot factory in Abuja, Nigeria, and represents Terra’s first manufacturing expansion outside its home country. Once at full capacity, the plant is projected to manufacture 50,000 drones annually by 2028 and will create approximately 120 engineering jobs. The factory will produce three of Terra’s aerial systems: the Archer VTOL for long-range surveillance and strike missions, the Iroko UAV for rapid tactical deployment, and the Kama, a newly announced interceptor drone capable of reaching 300 kilometres per hour designed specifically for counter-drone defence.

The expansion comes as armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State escalate drone warfare across Africa’s Sahel region. According to available data, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda coalition operating in Mali and Burkina Faso, conducted at least 89 drone operations between 2023 and 2025. In January 2026, Islamic State-affiliated militants struck Niamey International Airport in Niger with suicide drones, underscoring the growing threat.

“The only way Africa can have lasting peace is by uniting to build sovereign defence, not by relying on foreign security architecture,” Nathan Nwachuku, Terra’s co-founder and CEO, stated. He added that Ghana was selected for the project because of its talent pool, strategic position, and “political will to become a serious defence exporter.” Nwachuku further noted that Africa must build its own tools and systems for protection, saying, “We need to control our own destiny. This is how the continent will defeat terrorism.”

Founded in 2024 by Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, Terra Industries has raised $34 million across two rapid funding rounds in 2026, making it the most-funded defence-tech startup on the continent. Investors include US-based firms Lux Capital and 8VC, as well as Flutterwave chief executive Olugbenga Agboola’s Resilience17 Capital. The company already reports protecting roughly $11 billion in assets across eight African countries, including hydropower plants, lithium mines, and oil facilities.

The Ghana expansion follows a February memorandum of understanding between Terra and the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), the state-run defence arm of the Nigerian Armed Forces, to establish a joint venture for local assembly and training. Construction on Pax-2 is in its final phase, with the facility expected to be fully operational by the end of June 2026.