Africa

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.

The world's largest satellite communications provider, Intelsat, will partner with Israel's Gilat in a pilot program to provide a communications infrastructure for Uganda's rural populations as part of the effort to enhance that country's economic and social development.

A senior executive from Nigeria’s NigComSat has confirmed to the Nigerian press that the satellite communications company is to acquire two additional satellites from the China Great Wall Industry Corporation. This confirmation follows an agreement between NigComSat and Chinese development banks to provide Nigeria with U.S.$500 million in aid to acquire and launch the satellites over the next 36 months.

Nigeria's NigComSat and Turkey's Turksat have agreed to jointly carve out a share of the satellite communications market in Africa, where they will collaborate to ensure the deployment of satellite solutions.