2024/09/20 by Id Yassine, Rachid
paper · doi:10.57832/he1g-1g79
In recent years, Africa's space sector has experienced a period of disruptive expansion, gradually establishing itself as a strategic player on the world stage. As of mid-2024, Africa now has 61 satellites in orbit out of 13,605, with an ambitious goal of 125 new satellites by 2025. South Africa (13 satellites) was the first country on the continent to enter the space age by launching the SUNSAT-1 satellite with NASA’s support in 1999. Since then, 17 African countries have joined the club of countries with one or more satellites, including Egypt (13), Nigeria and Algeria (7), Kenya and Morocco (6), Angola, Ethiopia, and Rwanda (2), Ghana, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Mauritius, and most recently Senegal (1). On August 16, 2024, Senegal launched its first satellite, GAINDESAT-1A. At the same time, new space programs are emerging, bringing to twenty-one the number of African nations involved in the space adventure. The African space industry is therefore booming, with the emergence of 318 space companies and almost twenty thousand workers, more than half of whom are civil servants. In 2021, its value was estimated at 19.49 billion, with a projection expected to reach 22.64 billion by 2026. Admittedly, the African space economy accounts for less than 5% of the global space economy, which was estimated at 570 billion in 2023, but the continent is considerably increasing its investment, with over five billion dollars invested in nearly sixty satellite projects, while over the next three years, more than a hundred additional satellites are expected.