Thursday IAC 2019 GNF : Towards a formal African Space Programme

The African Union (AU) Summit in January 2016 approved the African Space Policy and the African Space Strategy and further recommended that the African Union Commission (AUC) reflect on the governance Framework and Implementation Plan for an African space programme. At the January 2018 AU Summit, the Statutes for an African Space Agency was approved and a formal process was initiated to identify a suitable host for the African Space Agency. At the last AU Summit in January 2019, the African heads of State approved Egypt as the host country for an African Space Agency.

The next steps involve the articulation of an Implementation Plan and an appropriate Governance Architecture, and the subsequent approval of these important instruments will mark the beginnings of the formal African space programme. The primary drivers for the African space programme, as espoused in the African Space Policy, include (i) the creation of a well-coordinated and integrated African Space Programme that is both responsive to the social, economic, political and environmental needs of the continent and is globally competitive, and (ii) the development of a regulatory framework that supports an African space agenda and ensures that Africa is a responsible user of outer space. In this Networking Forum we aim to unpack the preliminary thinking behind the African space programme.