Kofi Ampeah Woode
The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) – Major General (Maj Gen) Thomas Oppong-Peprah has been honoured by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Armored Group – Mr Tarek Hameidani, for good leadership.
The CEO of the internationally-famed motor vehicle company, which also deals in military vehicles, presented a plaque on behalf of his company to Ghana’s Army Commander, at the 16th International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) and 7th Naval Defence Exhibition (NAVDEX) – a 5-day conference and exhibitions held from 20-24 February 2023, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Maj Gen Oppong-Peprah led a delegation of the Ghana Army (GA), which included the outgoing Chief Staff Officer (CSO), Army, and now General Officer Commanding (GOC), Central Command (C/COMD) – Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Charles Agyemang-Prempeh; GOC, Northern Command (N/COMD) – Brig Gen Matthew Kweku Essien; and Service Financial Comptroller (SFC), Army – Lieutenant Colonel Miki Nkrumah, to participate in the events.
At the Conference, the COAS presented a plaque of honour, on behalf of GA, to a representative of the National Association of Ukrainian Defense Industries (NAUDI) – suppliers of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to the GA, and also caught up with some old mates of his at the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), United Kingdom.
The 16th edition of IDEX 2023 (its 30th inception Anniversary) and the 7th edition of NAVDEX 2023, under the patronage of the President of the UAE – His Excellency Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, which was accompanied with an International Defence Conference (IDC), provided an international platform to showcase latest innovations in the international defence sector, and a global forum to showcase the sector’s developments in advanced technology and equipment.
The 2023 edition of the biennial IDEX and NAVDAX, was organized by UAE’s Defence Ministry in association CAPITAL EVENTS, under the theme “Adaption, Exploration, Transformation: Reimagining Security, Society, and the Human Experience in an age of Disruption”, and attracted over 1800 participants.
Participation is noted to have included leaders, decision-makers, experts, state delegations, representatives of defence and security sectors of land, sea and air, academic institutions and companies, adding up to 350 delegations from all over the world.
The Conference included 4 panel discussions on the economic, social implications and risks of adopting modern technologies, talent development and human capital management, and the impact of technologies on the future of technologies.
IDEX ’23 and NAVDEX ’23 also hosted the first edition of IDEX and NAVDEX Talks – a series of interactive panel discussions that attract key thought leaders, policymakers, social media celebrities, researchers, and thinkers to attend strategic sessions and highlight the most prominent products, solutions, and innovative technologies that can shape a safe future, where dream inventions are presented as reality.
The number of exhibiting companies at the two exhibitions is pegged at 1350, participating countries to 65, visitors at 130,000, with 9 new countries – Bangladesh, Ireland, Kuwait, Lithuania, Monaco, Montenegro, Nigeria and Uzbekistan, participating for the first time.
NAVDEX ‘23 witnessed the participation of a number of naval vessels and ships from 8 countries – Bahrain, China, Great Britain, India, Italy, Kuwait, and Pakistan, along with the UAE. The vessels were on display at Ports ADNEC and Zayed, and featured many marine vessels participating in the exhibition.
Special exhibitions also witnessed many live demonstrations of the latest equipment and vehicles, some of which were displayed for the first time, contributing to showing the practical capabilities of these vehicles and marine vessels, in various defence classes and applications.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
