Ivor Ichikowitz makes selling military hardware sound like a moral crusade. He believes the arms deals he brokers make Africa a safer place. Some say his slogan should be “Give war a chance.” Industrialist, venture capitalist, philanthropist — those are some of the names people call the founder and chairman of South Africa’s Paramount Group, largest privately owned arms company in Africa. Just don’t call him an arms dealer.
He studied theater and literature before he got into defense
As a Wits University student he was involved with protest theater, then traveled the continent studying African literature. He founded Paramount Group in 1994, the year South Africa became a democracy. Revenue approached $1 billion in 2015.
Ichikowitz believes unity is vital to economic, social, and political progress and aims to “unify and uplift” people of African descent. He wants Africans to share technology, collaborate and bolster intra-African trade.
He’s a textbook case for diversified business interests
No one can accuse Ichikowitz of having all his eggs in one basket. His business interests include aviation, agriculture, medical supplies, energy, finance, infrastructure, tourism, mining, real estate and sustainable development.
His Johannesburg office is decorated with model aircraft
Ichikowitz sells products ranging from fighter jets to naval patrol vessels. His office is decorated with model aircraft and armored vehicles. But he recently won an order to sell 50 armored vehicles to Jordan, each worth $1 million-plus. Some respect please.
The Ichikowitz Family Foundation started the African Oral History Archive, which collects eyewitness accounts of apartheid. The effort resulted in an award-winning documentary, “Plot For Peace,” in 2014.
He’s a pioneer of military aviation production in Africa
He’s credited with producing a revolutionary product — the Advanced High-performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft, or AHRLAC. It’s the first fixed-wing military aircraft to be fully designed and built in Africa.
Ichikowitz lost a three-year legal battle with High Street Auctions, which he sued for faking bids to inflate the price of a property he was buying. Ichikowitz bought Thaba Phuti, a lodge and game farm near Rustenburg, for $1.5 million in 2011.
He and the government of Gabon are “strategic partners”
The president of Gabon personally announced in 2015 that the country’s low-cost airline, FlyAfrica, was expanding thanks to funding from “African industrialist, venture capitalist and philanthropist Ivor Ichikowitz.”
In a 2012 CNBC interview, Ichikowitz said the defense industry gets a bad rap. “People don’t really understand the difference between the arms dealers and the arms industry,” he said. “Calling us arms dealers is like calling the chairman of a pharmaceutical company a drug dealer.”
Ichikowitz said Paramount had never sold weapons to dictators. Activist Patrick Bond described him as a “dangerous asset” and Africa’s “most aggressive arms-dealing entrepreneur.” Ichikowitz said the U.S. should encourage an African defense industry to defeat terrorists. The Daily Beast suggested that Paramount’s slogan should be: “Give war a chance.”
Ichikowitz is close to President Jacob Zuma, earning him some criticism. “I’ve been an absolutely unashamed supporter of the movement that brought liberation to this country,” he said. He has made aircraft available to ANC leaders.
He makes selling military hardware “sound like a moral crusade”
Ichikowitz believes deals he has brokered have made Africa safer place. He says he won’t do business with a country if he does not have a close understanding with the head of state. He claims he walked away from a deal with Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.