Nigeria wants to become a space power in Africa
Audio 02:20
The future of the African space depends on the pooling of programs and resources.
© Pixabay / PIRO4D
By: Olivier Rogez Follow
2 min
Nigeria is in the spotlight in France this week with the visit to the French capital of President Buhari, invited to the Paris Peace Forum.
Last week, Nigerian space specialists were invited by AASO (pronounced AZO), the African Aeronautics and Space Organization to talk about the development of the space industry.
Abuja has the ambition to become a space power in Africa.
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A rising star in the African economy, Nigeria also intends to shine in space.
The country has a functioning telecommunications satellite, NigComSat-1R.
He aims to acquire two more by 2025 and why not in the process to train an astronaut.
“
We have a dream, a vision, that by 2025 there will be a Nigerian astronaut.
And this dream, I am confident that the National Agency for Development and Space Research of Nigeria will make it come true.
So, I hope that soon we will see a Nigerian astronaut!
Says Abimbola Alalé, head of satellite operator NigComSat.
Beyond this dream, Abuja intends to seize all opportunities to develop its space program, considered as a vector of development.
Currently, Africa as a whole is still poorly equipped with satellites, but the programs are multiplying.
The space engineer, Sekou Ouedraogo is the founder of AASO, an association promoting the African space sector.
He explains that “
forty-three satellites have been launched since 1998. There are about twenty agencies or institutions
[African, editor's note]
that work in space.
There has been an increase in space launches of 350% over the past five years.
There is therefore a real ripple effect.
The African Space Agency has just been given walls, and 2022 will be the year of the official launch of this agency.
"
Pool resources
The African Space Agency will serve to pool resources, but will not replace national programs.
And for many countries the question arises of the conditions to be met in order to have a real space program.
Response with Pacôme Révillon, CEO of Euroconsult, a company specializing in providing advice to States and companies in the sector.
“
The technological competence or the presence of a university pole can be important to allow the emergence of space activities.
Then, we see more countries creating space agencies in order to put in place a medium and long term strategy.
Then, inevitably, the provision of relatively stable budgets is important for space activities which always run on multi-year programs.
"
For Pacôme Révillon as for Abimbola Alalé, the future of the African space depends on the pooling of programs and resources.
No country has the financial and technical capacity to be autonomous, from the launch pad to the launcher, including satellites.
But together within the new African Space Agency, this dream is within reach.
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