Defense Entrepreneurs: The UAE Reinvents Defense Assistance from Angola

• Commentary Middle East and North Africa
  by Eleonora Ardemagni
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On 22 October, the Emirati defence industry conglomerate, EDGE, announced to be "in the final stages" of securing an agreement with Angola's Ministry of Interior. The goal is to deploy a comprehensive border security programme, that will be delivered by BEACON RED, an EDGE's entity specialised in providing security solutions. The entente follows the letter of intent signed by Omar Al Zaabi, President of EDGE, during the official visit of the Emirati president, Shaykh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to Luanda, held in August.

According to EDGE's press release, the border security programme with Angola will enable "long-term capability development through the delivery of cutting-edge command and control (C2) systems and mission-specific training". This will allow Angolan forces to "enhance situational awareness, operational readiness, and rapid response at critical border points".

Reshaping State security cooperation abroad

The deal, to be finalised, marks a breakthrough in the Emirati security assistance abroad -since previous similar agreements are not known- and emphasises two aspects. First, security assistance will not be delivered directly by the Emirati state and its security-defence institutions, but through a security entity working for the UAE state. Therefore, the UAE will protect its economic interests abroad thanks to the intermediation of a security actor, BEACON RED, which is defined as an "entity" related to the Emirati state-owned defence industry conglomerate, EDGE. Likely, this means the UAE will not deploy soldiers, or policemen, for border security and training in the country, as usually occurs in state-to-state bilateral assistance.

In such a ´private security company-style` solution, training and capacity-building tasks for ad hoc programmes are entrusted by the state to a controlled company: this highlights the complexity of the security-defence structure the UAE has developed to pursue its strategic interests abroad. Likewise, it stresses how the UAE has institutionalised complementary and more agile ways to deliver security assistance in third countries, alongside classic state-to-state security cooperation agreements. For instance, the UAE and Angola haven't signed a security/defence cooperation deal yet.

The security-technology nexus

The second relevant aspect of the programme is the strong security-technology nexus emerging from the Emirati strategy. According to the EDGE's press release, the border security architecture the Emiratis are going to deploy in Angola "integrates AI-powered analytics, surveillance UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles, ndr), secure communications, and big data management with traditional defence systems and layered physical security". In May, BEACON RED signed a Memorandum with Barricade AI, a US-based provider of AI-driven solutions for public safety, aimed at integrating AI in global policing operations.

The announced Emirati border security programme is the most relevant step of a broader partnership with Luanda, developing at the intersection among security, defence and advanced technology. In August, Space42, a UAE-based space and tech company, and Angola's Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISM), signed a Memorandum for a five-year strategic partnership. The deal, aimed at integrating satellite communications and analytics with AI, includes collaboration in border control solutions, and in unmanned systems for surveillance and border security.

The Emirati interests in Angola, and the geostrategic context

In recent years, the UAE signed many economic agreements with Angola, for instance on port infrastructures, agriculture and defence industry. This explains the Emirati focus on Luanda's border security, given also the northern frontier with the conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Both DP World (since 2021) and Abu Dhabi Ports Group (since 2024) operate terminals at Luanda port; Masdar is developing a solar power project; Abu Dhabi Ship Building (which is part of EDGE) agreed in 2023 to build corvettes for the Angolan Navy. In 2025 the UAE, whose first import items from Luanda are diamond, gold and copper bars, signed with Angola a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to further boost bilateral trade relations.

In the UAE's geostrategy, Angola plays a relevant role, especially due to geography. Placed on the Atlantic rim of Africa, the country's coast is a transhipment hub, and a natural linchpin for the Emirati economic projection to Latin America, similarly to UAE's infrastructural investments in Morocco and Mauritania. Furthermore, the Emirati mining investments in Zambia (copper) and DRC (tin and other minerals) make even more strategic for the UAE the construction of the Lobito railway corridor, the US and EU-backed project aimed at exporting from Angola (Lobito port) minerals extracted in Zambia and the DRC.

In Angola, the UAE invested first in port infrastructures (in 2021), then focusing on the security-defence dimension of cooperation (the 2023 Abu Dhabi Ship Building contract): a partnership's trajectory that Abu Dhabi has often displayed in other countries, especially in Africa. With the EDGE-driven border security programme close to be finalised, the UAE reshapes the state approach to security assistance abroad, investing in a more flexible, business-driven security component which is state-controlled, even though not part of formal institutions.