Israeli Security Firm Signs Secret €32m Deal with a West African Government ‎

An Israeli company has again drawn attention to the quiet spread of Israeli security technology across West Africa. Mer Group has announced a €32 million agreement to supply homeland security, aerial, and intelligence solutions to a government in West Africa. The buyer has not been named, and that secrecy is the heart of the story.

The company is not new to the continent. It is reported to have delivered systems for border control, national command centres, cybersecurity infrastructure, and telecom and fibre-network projects across Africa. This deal is one of several signed this year, together worth roughly NIS 275 million.

The pattern is familiar. In 2019, an Israeli drone maker won a tender to supply surveillance drones to a security agency in an undisclosed West African country.

A 2014 Israel-Côte d'Ivoire security pact was reportedly preceded by private brokering, according to leaked emails reported by Drop Site News.

In Senegal, OCCRP and Haaretz obtained a copy of a secret arms contract involving a weapons broker. In Nigeria, a 2017 waterways security deal with an Israeli firm was valued at an estimated $195 million.

Why it matters
Transparency: Citizens do not know who is buying surveillance and intelligence systems, at what price, or under what oversight.

Misuse: Analysts warn the technologies can be misused. Ghana was reported to be among 26 countries where Pegasus was used to spy on private communications. (orientxxi)

Sovereignty: Command centres, border systems and telecom networks built by foreign firms raise questions about data control and long-term dependence.

Sahel spillover: Coastal states facing jihadist pressure from the north are likely buyers, and fear tends to override scrutiny.

What to watch: whether the buyer government is named, whether parliaments or auditors see the contract, and what safeguards protect journalists and opposition figures.

Caveat: The buyer's identity is unconfirmed. The Epstein-linked Côte d'Ivoire reporting is separate from the Mer Group deal, and Al Jazeera noted that details of the 2014 pact are scant.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. (USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

References
Jerusalem Post, "Mer Group €32m West Africa deal": https://jpost.com/defense-and-tech/article-895644

Orient XXI, "Israel's spyware diplomacy in Africa": https://orientxxi.info/magazine/israel-s-spyware-diplomacy-in-africa,5859

Drop Site News, "Jeffrey Epstein Helped Israel Sell a Surveillance State to Côte d'Ivoire": https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-israel-surveillance-state-cote-d-ivoire-ehud-barak-leaked-emails

Al Jazeera, "Did Epstein help Israel push for a security deal with Ivory Coast?" (27 Feb 2026): https://newsar.codejungle.org/articles/19814 (a mirror copy of the Al Jazeera piece, so check the original on aljazeera.com before citing)

OCCRP, "Notorious Nigerien Weapons Broker Lands Secret Arms Deal in Senegal": https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/notorious-nigerien-weapons-broker-lands-secret-arms-deal-in-senegal

IsraelDefense, "Aero-Sentinel to Supply G2 Drone to West African Country" (8 Sept 2019): https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/40124

Sahara Reporters, "HSLI Israeli company hired" (14 Feb 2019): https://saharareporters.com/2019/02/14/dossier-owned-amaechis-friend-—-everything-you-need-know-about-hsli-israeli-company-hired