AfSA is an initiative of the 55-member African Union (AU) and is headquartered in Cairo. It was established to coordinate the work of Africa's existing efforts in space ' more than 20 African countries have space programmes. Priorities will include improving satellite communication, which provides crucial connectivity for rural populations. It also aims to generate and access data from space to track the effects of climate change, provide disaster relief and aid agriculture and water and food security. However, the agency is not yet fully-staffed and its budget, detailed programme of action and funding sources have not yet been confirmed. AfSA's core funding will come from the AU's overall budget, which was US$606 million in 2024. But it will be supplemented with external sources, such as development banks, says Meshack Kinyua Ndiritu, a space engineer with AfSA. Another challenge will be to get countries at different stages of development to agree on common priorities, he adds. An...
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