TATV Insight: With Ivor Ichikowitz - optimism for Africa’s new dawn

Ivor Ichikowitz, the founder and executive chairman of Africa’s largest private defence manufacturer talks to Alan Peaford in this special TATV Insight programme.

Paramount has grown from its South African base to become a global player with strong partnerships in the Middle East – in particular Saudi Arabia, the UAE and more recently Israel; in Central Asia and in the United States.

But Ichikowitz is equally recognised as an African philanthropist with a passion for education and a huge belief in the future for Africa and its people.

In this interview, he talks about why he has refused to consider to move his company out of Africa.

“Everybody thinks of Africa as being a wealthy continent, because it has gold, and it has platinum and it has silver and it has other commodities. That's not the whole story. The real wealth of Africa is in its people. And we have this incredible range of human capital on the African continent, that is going to prove to be one of the biggest ways for Africa to present itself to the international community,” the industrialist says.

He also explains why Paramount’s focus on affordability and durability will be even more in demand in the post-covid world.

Training in developing nations is a key part of Paramount companies and Ichikowitz explains why he is confident the continent has such a powerful future.

 

Alan Peaford

Alan Peaford MBE

Alan is a regular broadcaster and is the consultant editor-in-chief and presenter for Times Aerospace TV and is a regular commentator on aviation issues for many global broadcasting channels. He is conference chairman of the Aviation Africa summit and the Aviation MENA summit and has moderated or chaired conferences for organisations such as IATA, DCAA, the Global Aerospace Summit and business aviation associations in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.