Private Security in Africa

Book excerpt: The past decade has seen rapid growth in the private security industry, both in Africa and globally. Private security companies have diversified their activities to include military advice and training, arms procurement, intelligence gathering, logistical and medical support and in limited instances, combat and operational support. As a result many African governments have engaged the services of internationally-operating private security companies, such as the American firms MPRI (Military and Professional Resources International), Dyncorp and PAE (Pacific Architects and Engineers), while more ‘traditional’ security companies such as Saracen, Gray Security and others are active in a number of countries such as Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.