SMD is the longest-standing and most established marine electronics company in Africa.
Our Story
Our roots go as far back as 1939.
SMD was formed in 1957, but its roots trace back to 1939 when Mr. Horace Dainty and co-investors Smith & Matson established a company, SMD Manufacturing. During World War II, SMD focused on manufacturing communications equipment, including the M17 radio for UDF and British forces. After the war, Dainty revitalised SMD in Pinetown, Durban, winning a tender from CSIR to develop the Wadely Receiver, leading to the RA17 for RACAL (UK), and producing hundreds of thousands of transistor radios under Eveready for the local market.dios under the Eveready name to the local market.
New shoots begin to grow.
In 1957, SMD established SMD Telecommunications as an independent marine division to serve naval and merchant ships, under the leadership of Mr. Duncan Compton-James. Initially, the main company, SMD Manufacturing, entered into a joint venture with RACAL, forming RACAL-SMD. Barlow Group later acquired SMD Manufacturing, rebranding it as Barlow Manufacturing. Racal increased its ownership in RACAL-SMD, leading to the creation of Racal Electronics South Africa, now known as SAAB GRINTEK. Compton-James bought out the entire equity of SMD Telecommunications and relocated operations to Cape Town, where the headquarters remains. During the 1990s, Compton-James sold his shares to Mr. Arend de Boer, who then became CEO.
Grupo Arbulu
In 2012, Grupo Arbulu (Spain) acquired 80% of SMD, integrating it into a leading marine electronics group. In 2014, Arend de Boer retired as MD and was succeeded by Brian Chambers. In 2016, SMD Africa Marine was established as a holding company for all SMD Africa entities. The following year, Seatronics in Port Louis was acquired and renamed SMD Mauritius, and SMD Kenya was officially registered. In 2018, Brian Chambers departed from SMD, Grupo Arbulu became the sole shareholder, and Andile Dhlomo was appointed MD. Currently, with Grupo Arbulu’s support, SMD continues to grow in Africa, including a branch in Luanda, with the goal of becoming a trusted maritime tech partner offering value-adding solutions.