Africa

Airbus Defence and Space and the Government of the Côte d'Ivoire have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the French-headquartered company to help develop an aerospace sector in the African country that was once a French colony.

After the failure of Angosat-1 shortly after its launch late last year, Angola is again partnering with Russia to build and launch Angosat-2 by 2020. Angola’s first communications satellite, Angosat-1, failed shortly after reaching orbit. It was launched in December 2017 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on board a Zenit 3F rocket. Russia’s RSC Energia, a subsidiary of the state-run space industry player Roscosmos, built the satellite.

Airbus Defence and Space has been highlighting its wide range of satellite-based solutions to the South African military and other organisations during the company’s recent Airbus Defence and Space South Africa Defence Day 2018 presentation in Pretoria.

SES’s Satellite Monitor study suggests that satellites are playing a critical role in bridging the digital divide in Africa, with SES providing 2.7 million Ugandans with satellite television.

The Zimbabwe government has announced that it intends to create a national space agency that will be called the National Geo-Spatial and Space Agency (NGSSA).

The South African Square Kilometer Array (SKA) has partnered with the Dutch optical telescope MeerLICHT to create the world's first combined radio and optical telescope – a kind of 'eyes and ears' approach to astronomy – that could provide huge advances in both astronomy and astrophysics.

Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world, is now working to bridge the digital divide and develop its economy with the help of SES Networks, one of the world's leading commercial satellite communication companies.

Thaicom, one of the largest commercial satellite communication companies in the Asia-Pacific, has announced an agreement with MediaVision as part of the expansion of its broadcast platform in Africa.

Inmarsat, a leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, announced on 9 May 2018 that it, in conjunction with Tillman Digital Cities and CivicConnect, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Smart Africa secretariat to accelerate the development and implementation of public-private partnerships (PPP) with the Smart Africa Alliance.

Japan is making further inroads to Africa, helping another African country, Rwanda, join the space club. The University of Tokyo has signed an agreement with Rwanda to help it build a small satellite and train its future engineers. The agreement, signed on 9 May 2018 in Rwanda’s capital Kigali during the Transform Africa summit, is between the Smart Africa Initiative and Rwanda, and the University of Tokyo.