Our continent awaits a lot of work in the field of space

Sarah Anyang Agbor, Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, African Union, said there is a lot of space activities waiting for us on the continent.

She added, during a press conference on the sidelines of the Executive Council meetings, today, Thursday, in Addis Ababa: “At a time when the global space economy is heading to a trillion dollars, the value of the African dollar in space did not exceed 7.37 billion dollars, according to the (Space in Africa) review.

“We have carried out a lot of space activities in the past decade, and we are waiting for more efforts that we need to do,” she said.

The African official revealed that during the ongoing meetings of the organs of the African Union, which began with the Executive Council meeting today, Thursday, the structure of two major projects will be discussed, namely the African Outer Space Strategy and the Pan-African Virtual University and the Electronic University.

She said that the importance of working in the implementation of these two continental projects comes in recognition of the unique opportunities for producers to collectively harness space technology and services for social and economic development.

The Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation of the African Union indicated that the Heads of State and Government of the Union adopted the Space Strategy for Africa, as the first concrete tools to achieve an external African goal, and that was in January 2016 during the 26th Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa.

She pointed out that the adoption of the statute of the African Space Agency took place in 2018, to establish the agency as an organ of the African Union, while it was agreed that the Arab Republic of Egypt would move the agency in 2019.

The African official explained that the committee is implementing the basic data required for the agency in the four areas; Earth observation, communications, navigation and positioning, arts and space sciences.

She touched on the Pan-African Virtual Project and the Electronic University, explaining that the proposed project aims to address the need of Agenda 2063 to accelerate the development of human capital, science, technology and innovation by increasing access to higher education and continuing education in Africa and benefiting from the digital revolution and global knowledge; Reach large numbers of students and professionals in multiple locations simultaneously – anywhere, anytime.

Earlier today, Thursday, the work of the 39th regular session of the Executive Council of the African Union kicked off in Addis Ababa, which paves the way for the third semi-annual coordination meeting between the African Union, economic groups and regional mechanisms.