The African Space Opportunity
“We aspire that by 2063, Africa shall be a prosperous continent, with the means and resources to drive its own development, with sustainable and long-term stewardship of its resources”
The Africa Agenda 2063, established in January 2015 in Addis Ababa by the Heads of State and the Government of the African Union set out a list of aspirations and goals for the continent. Among the written aspirations was a desire to transform Africa into a “prosperous continent with the means and resources to drive its own development”, to push African countries to be "amongst the best performers in global quality of life measures”, to modernise and increase productivity of African agriculture and to develop "well educated and skilled citizens, underpinned by science, technology and innovation”[1].
Africa represents 20% of the Earth's land surface area, more than the USA, India, China and Europe put together, but only less than 0.2% of the global space budget*
*in 2013
Currently, those lofty goals have not been reached. Africa as a whole still struggles to ensure the provision of basic necessities for everyone and while progress has been made, more still needs to be done. To attain the goals that the continent set for itself, more attention needs to be paid to the large impact that space science and technology can have in addressing several of the problems facing countries on the continent. The signs point to African nations waking up to the potential of space, and the African Union published a draft statute for the development of an African Space Agency in October 2017. The main objectives of the African Space Agency outlined in the draft include the drive to “harness the potential benefits of space science, technology, innovation and applications in addressing Africa’s socio-economic opportunities and challenges” as well as to “develop a sustainable and vibrant indigenous space market and industry that promotes and responds to the needs of the African continent” [2].
According to the African Space Strategy published by the African Union in 2016, while Africa represents 20% of the Earth's land surface area, more than the USA, India, China and Europe put together, those countries/regions spent more than 500 times the amount on space activities in 2013; with the African continent as a whole spending less than 0.2% of the global space budget in the same period[3]. The lack of productivity in the space sector on the African continent is clear to see and has limited the developmental and growth possibilities of the continent.
How space technologies can benefit African sectors
Some of the challenges that the African continent faces seem tailor-made for the application of space science and technology.
Challenges regarding food security, rapid urbanisation and sustainability are already being tackled in western and eastern countries outside the continent, and the potential of improved space-applications and services is huge. For instance, a report from NASA outlines the meaningful impact that geospatial data can have on public health. NASA researchers found that data taken from the Malaria Early Warning System (MEWS) resulted in approximately 500,000 fewer new malaria cases across 28 countries[4]. Similarly, they estimated that the use of geospatial data following the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 saved between $24-$72 million in revenue losses due to delays and aircraft damage costs and could have saved up to $200 million had the data been used from the onset of the eruption.
While geospatial data can be purchased from international partners, rather than self-collected, to date partnerships have been unable to provide the right data in the right timeframe and costlier [5]. Recently, however, the African Union Commission signed a Copernicus Cooperation Arrangement for the free and open use of the European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel satellite data.
Yet, with the declining costs of satellites and launchers, and the development of novel applications and improvements in technology that have enable new innovations, the use and implementation of space technology has become more and more attainable. The transition in the space industry to NewSpace has changed the landscape for African countries and raised the importance of the development of a domestic industry.
African nations need to seize this opportunity and leverage space technologies for their own development.
Kwaku Sumah
Kwaku has been active in the space industry since 2016, working as a consultant for European space institutions and companies. He has worked on projects across the entire space value chain, including analysis on downstream markets, space debris evolution, planetary defence, and the launch market; as well as an assessment of the European financing landscape and due diligence on space companies. Most recently he worked as the project manager for Galileo Green Lane, an EU response to COVID-19 leveraging GNSS.
[1] African Union Commission. (2015, September). Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. https://www.un.org/en/africa/osaa/pdf/au/agenda2063.pdf
[2] African Union. (2017, October 11). Draft Statute of the African Space Agency
[3] African Union (2017) African Space Strategy: Towards Social, Political and Economic Integration
[4] NASA, Measuring Socioeconomic Impacts of Earth Observations: A Primer
[5] Wood, D., Weigel, A. (2011) Building technological capability within satellite programs in developing countries. Acta Astronautica