Is There a Need for an African Space Agency?
The inauguration of the African Space Agency (AfSA) on January 25, 2023 heralded a decades long push for a continental agency to direct space affairs within Africa. In this series, Kwaku Sumah examines the stated aims and goals of the agency, and asks, is it possible for the AfSA to achieve its stated aims as designed?
Read Part Two
The establishment of the Africa Agenda 2063 by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in January 2015 announced Africa’s entrance to the global space arena. This continental level action set out a list of aspirations and goals for the continent – with the space domain recognised as a vital component; and the Africa Outer Space Strategy outlined as a flagship project, aiming to strengthen the use of outer space for the development of the continent.
This push to unify continental efforts in the space domain, culminated in October 2017, when the AU published a draft statute for the development of an African Space Agency (AfSA), as well as the African Space Policy and Strategy. The high level policy goals of the African Space Policy and Strategy are to:[1]
Create a well-coordinated and integrated African space programme that is responsive to the social, economic, political, and environmental needs of the continent, as well as being globally competitive.
Develop a regulatory framework that supports an African space programme and ensures that Africa is a responsible and peaceful user of outer space
With the key policy objectives and principles being:
Addressing user needs (to improve Africa’s economy);
to harness the potential benefits of space science and technology in addressing Africa’s socio-economic opportunities and challenges.Accessing space services (to use existing space infrastructure);
to strengthen space mission technology on the continent in order to ensure optimal access to space-derived data, information services and products.Developing the regional market (a competitive African space programme);
to develop a sustainable and vibrant indigenous space industry that responds to the needs of the African continent.Adopting good governance and management (to support the African space programme);
to adopt good corporate governance and best practices for the coordinated management of continental space activities.Coordinating the African space arena (to harmonise and standardise);
to maximise the benefit of, current and planned, space activities, and avoid or minimise the duplication of resources and efforts.Promoting intra-Africa and other international cooperation.
to promote the African-led space agenda through mutually beneficial partnerships.
The AfSA in turn is in charge of promoting and coordinating the implementation of the African Space Policy and Strategy, and is expected to conduct activities that exploit space technologies and applications for sustainable development and improvement of the welfare of African citizens.
The publishing of the draft statute crowned a decade long push for an AfSA. In 2008, Keith Gottschalk proposed the agency to achieve continental coordination and to present a more unified body for better negotiation of satellite construction, space launches, technology transfer, and use of data, facilities and infrastructure. Gottschalk’s arguments were built on an analysis of the European space ecosystem, a consideration of Africa as a capital-scare continent, an understanding of the benefits of Africa’s geometry for satellite constellations, and a belief that international cooperation is most efficiently negotiated at continental levels. [2]
In the subsequent years following that article, several entities and persons announced their support for the development of the AfSA. In its 2009 to 2012 strategy, the AU upheld much of Gottschalk’s arguments,[3] leading to a formalisation of intent in the Abuja Declaration at the 3rd AU Conference in August 2010, where Ministers requested a feasibility study to be conducted on the establishment of the AfSA.[4] On 15 September 2010, the then Vice President of the European Commission, Antonio Tajani, and Commissioner of the AU Commission, Jean-Pierre Ezin, also voiced their support for the AfSA.[5] Other notable backers of the AfSA include Mohamed H.A. Hassan, Executive Director of the Academy of Science for the Developing World (TWAS), who showed his support while speaking at the 2009 African Science Communication conference;[6] as well as Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir,[7] AARSE,[8] and United Nations (UN)-SPIDER.[9]
In 2013, the AU Commission endorsed the establishment of a Working Group on Space Science tasked to develop a draft African Space Policy and Strategy.[10]
Two years after the reveal of the draft statute for the development of an AfSA in 2019, it was decided at the 34th Ordinary Session of the African Union Executive Council in Addis Ababa, that Egypt would host the headquarters of the AfSA,[11] with Egypt subsequently allocating U.S.$ 10 million to establish the AfSA and cover its running expenses over the next five years.[12]
In the draft statute, the AfSA’s primary function was agreed as a vehicle to implement the African Space Policy and Strategy, focusing on Earth observation, satellite communication, satellite navigation and positioning, and space science and astronomy as thematic areas.[13] The AfSA include is also expected to: [14]
Promote and coordinate the implementation of programmes and activities approved by the African Space Council.
Address user needs to ensure that space programmes will play a critical role in improving Africa’s economy and the quality of life of its peoples.
Support Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs)in building their space programs and coordinate space efforts across the continent.
Enhance and facilitate access to space resources and services in an effort to leverage space-derived benefits to the whole continent.
Support Member States and RECs in building critical infrastructure and coherently develop, upgrade and operate cutting-edge African space infrastructure.
Coordinate development of a critical mass of African capacities in space science, technology and innovation through appropriate education and training programmes.
Foster regional coordination and collaboration.
Promote strategic intra-continental and international partnerships.
Strengthen research, development and innovation in space science and technology.
Coordinate and promote Africa participation in international efforts for the peaceful use of space science and technology for the welfare of humanity.
Raise awareness of the benefits of space programmes for Africa.
Engage Member States in space-related activities and research in Africa with the aim of fostering cooperation and avoiding duplication of efforts.
Take maximum advantage of national activities conducted by Member States and facilitate coordination of the activities of Member States; and
Operate on the basis of international cooperation.
Additionally, the AfSA would coordinate a continent-wide regulatory framework for space activities on the continent, work directly with national space agencies when interfacing with Member States and in the co-management of space activities for the continent, and drive a common African position for multilateral engagements.
Upon defining the main objectives and proposed scope for the AfSA, progress largely stalled and came to a standstill. The First Continental Report on the Implementation of Agenda 2063 revealed that while there were a few achievements such as: (i) the creation of a study on structural and financial implications for the AfSA, (ii) the defining of priority areas of implementation by the African Outer Space Programme, (iii) the completion of two out of four baseline studies for developing operation programmes and missions, and (iv) the strengthening of the African Earth Observation (EO) system; progress on the AfSA was constrained by delays in “consideration of the structural and financial implications.”[15]
“It might be instructive to take a step back and ask what exactly is it that the African Space Agency will do once it is established. What is its value proposition for African countries, ranging from those with established space capabilities, to those that still have to take their first steps”
In essence, there were still questions surrounding how it would be funded and how it should operate; with next steps outlined to accelerate progress, mobilise more resources from the host country and Member States, as well as operationalise the AfSA within the scope articulated in the African Space Policy and Strategy.
Keen observers of the AfSA development process were not surprised with the delays outlined in the First Continental Report, as there have been several delays and unanswered questions surrounding the project since its inception. In fact, Peter Martinez, who had previously voiced his criticisms of the need for an AfSA, noted that countries may just continue to collaborate bilaterally and that “it might be instructive to take a step back and ask what exactly is it that the African Space Agency will do once it is established. What is its value proposition for African countries, ranging from those with established space capabilities, to those that still have to take their first steps.”[16]
In his 2012 paper, “Is there a need for an African space agency?”,[17] Martinez argued against the creation of an AfSA on five main grounds, namely:
The lack of similarity with the European Space Agency, which the AfSA has often been compared to;
The fact that intra-African cooperation can occur without the need for a continental agency, citing the African Resource Management (ARM) satellite constellation project;
The financial and operational overhead caused by a mismatch of experiences in partners which would rather dilute efforts than work synergistically;
A lacking national industrial base and policy, as well as space-specific expertise in several Member States which would result in a lack of, or poor contribution generally; and
The need for strengthening regional institutions such as the two African Regional Centres for Space Science and Technology Education, affiliated to the UN, or the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Kenya, rather than creating new continental institutions.
Martinez concluded that collaboration could initially start through an alignment of national programmes before expanding to cooperative programmes with an element of technical cooperation.
A year later, Timiebi Aganaba-Jeanty published a commentary on Martinez’s paper, offering an alternative perspective on the AfSA. In her paper titled “Precursor to an African Space Agency: Commentary on Dr Peter Martinez “Is there a Need for an African Space Agency?”,[18] Aganaba-Jeanty raises a few more concerns regarding the AfSA, namely:
The apparent lack of visible support from space capable African countries;
The fact that collaboration between states typically occurs to further political, strategic and economic goals, and not necessarily to promote international cooperation; and
That some African countries, and particularly North African countries, may be more aligned with other regional initiatives in the Middle East and North African region, such as the Inter-Islamic Network on Space Sciences and Technology (which Sudan and Senegal have joined).
While a few of the objections raised by Martinez and Aganaba-Jeanty have been addressed in the ensuing years by the African Space Policy and Strategy (which aims to include, establish and support regional institutions), and the bids for the hosting of the AfSA showing some support for the initiative as a whole (Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia and Namibia all vied for that role), the large majority of the objections have as yet not been addressed.
On January 25, 2023, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Egyptian Government formally inaugurated and declared the African Space Agency (AfSA) open and operational via a signed agreement. This move established a general framework regulating the relationship between the parties, to serve as a platform for space research and innovation on the continent.
With the AfSA finally inaugurated and situated within Egypt’s Space City, it remains to be seen if they will be able to address and overcome the coming challenges.
Kwaku Sumah
Kwaku is the founder of Spacehubs Africa, and has been active in the space industry since 2016, working as a consultant for European and African 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.
[1] African Union, “African Space Policy, Towards Social, Political and Economic Integration. Second Ordinary Session for the Specialized Technical Committee Meeting on Education, Science and Technology”, October 2017, https://au.int/sites/default/files/newsevents/workingdocuments/33178-wd-african_space_policy_-_st20444_e_original.pdf (all websites cited in this publication were last accessed and verified on 28 April 2022)
[2] Keith Gottschalk, “The roles of Africa’s institutions in ensuring Africa’s active participation in the space enterprise: the case for an African space agency (ASA)”, African Skies, October 2008:(12):pp.26-8.
[3] African Union Commission, “Strategic plan 2009 – 2012”, 19 May 2009, https://portal.africa-union.org/DVD/Documents/DOC-AU-WD/ASSEMBLY%20AU%203%20(XIII)%20_E.PDF
[4] Abuja Declaration, “Third conference of African ministers in charge of communication and information technologies”, 3 to 7 August 2010, Abuja, Nigeria.
[5] European Union, “Joint Statement of Vice President Tajani, European Commission and Commissioner Ezin, African Union Commission”, Press Release, 15 September 2010, http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-10-414_en.htm?locale¼en
[6] Mohamed HA Hassan, “Role of science communication in promoting STI for sustainable development in Africa”, 2009 African Science Communication Conference (ASCC), 18-21 February 2009, Gallagher Convention Centre, Gauteng, South Africa.
[7]ThisIsSierraLeone, “Africa needs its own space research agency: Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, https://www.thisissierraleone.com/africa-needs-its-own-space-research-agency-sudans-omar-al-bashir/
[8] Timiebi Aganaba-Jeanty, “Precursor to an African Space Agency: Commentary on Dr. Peter Martinez “Is there a Need for an African Space Agency?”” Space Policy 29:3, (2013), pp. 168-174.
[9] UN-SPIDER regional workshop “Building Upon Regional Space-based Solutions for Disaster Management and Emergency Response for Africa”, 25 to 28 May 2010, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
[10]Mahama Ouedraogo. “Regional cooperation in space in Africa: initiatives of the African Union”, In: Presentation at the UNIDIR conference, the role of norms of behaviour in African outer space activities, 7 to 8 March 2013.
[11] African Union, “34th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council”, 7 to 8 February 2019, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/36448-ex_cl_dec_1031_-_1056_xxxiv_e.pdf
[12] MENA, “Egypt allocates $10 mn to establish African Space Agency”, 23 February 2019, https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/65133/Egypt-allocates-10-mn-to-establish-African-Space-Agency
[13] African Union, “African Space Strategy. For Social, Political and Economic Integration”, 2019 https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/37434-doc-au_space_strategy_isbn-electronic.pdf ISBN: 978-92-95104-83-9
[14] African Union, “Draft Statute of the African Space Agency”, 11 October 2017, https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36198-treaty-statute_african_space_agency_e.pdf
[15]African Union, “First Continental Report on the Implementation of Agenda 2063”, pp. 37, https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/38060-doc-agenda_2063_implementation_report_en_web_version.pdf
[16] Makoni , Munyaradzi. “Plans for African Space Agency Jeopardized by Lack of Progress.” Physics World, 24 Feb 2020, https://physicsworld.com/a/plans-for-african-space-agency-jeopardized-by-lack-of-progress/
[17] Peter Martinez, “Is there a need for an African space agency?”, Space policy, vol. 28. Issue 3, August 2012, pp. 142-145.
[18] Timiebi Aganaba-Jeanty, “Precursor to an African Space Agency: Commentary on Dr Peter Martinez “Is there a Need for an African Space Agency?”” Space Policy 29:3, (2013), pp. 168-174.