Outer Space Programme
Africa has an opportunity to exploit its geographic position and natural resources to promote economic growth, improve the quality of life of its people, and contribute to scientific knowledge. At the same time, Africa is facing major challenges in food security, rapid urbanization, the sustainable use of the environment, and the need to educate a growing population. Economic, political, environmental and social reforms can make an impact only if there is concerted effort to build indigenous skills and technological capabilities that provide effective solutions to the challenges.
Active participation in the development of space-related applications and services will enable the continent to address its development challenges, meet the objectives of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, and make significant contributions to the implementation of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA). Africa can take advantage new opportunities offered by its geographic advantages, and become a global space player. The successful implementation of these frameworks is highly dependent on space technologies and applications. Access to sound, secure spatial data for decision-making will require an indigenous space programme.
Africa cannot afford to remain a net importer of space technologies, as in the long term this will limit socio-economic development and negate the African Union’s vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena”. Developing an adequate regional space capability has been hampered by the capital-intensive nature of the space sector and the lack of a formal governance structure to advance a collective effort. These difficulties must be overcome given the strategic value of a regional space sector in advancing the economic, political, environmental and social agenda of the continent. Space applications are needed to achieve over 90% of the strategic objectives across the eight departments of the African Union Commission (AUC). The use of space-based products and services to provide critical spatial information for decision-making purposes would contribute to realizing Agenda 2063, and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security, and Africa (GMES and Africa)
GMES & Africa is a joint AU-EU programme emanating from the long-standing partnership between Africa and Europe in the area of Earth Observation (EO). It is designed to Designed to support the implementation of the African Space Policy and Strategy by addressing the growing needs of African countries to access and use Earth Observation (EO) data for the implementation of sustainable development policies on the continent. These include the management of the environment and natural resources and monitoring of humanitarian operations on the continent through the integration and deployment of African requirements and needs in Copernicus Services.
Officially launched in November 2016 in Brazaville, Congo, the programme is a priority under the African Space Policy and Strategy, formulated by African Union Heads of State and Government. It is co-funded to the tune of €30 million by the European Commission and the African Union Commission. The African Union Commission is the Delegated Authority for implementing the programmes which receives continued support from European Institutions such as the Joint Research Center, EUMETSAT, and European Space Agency.
GMES and Africa Grants are issued in two lots, according to the Water & Natural Resources service, and the Marine and Coastal Resources service. It will deliver the following to various stakeholders across Africa:
- Provide information for policymakers, scientists, businesses and the public
- Maintain and improve local, institutional, human and technical capacities for accessing and using EO data and services for sustainable socio-economic development
- Provide decision-makers with information and tools required for the implementation of sustainable socio-economic development policies and programmes at the continental, regional and national levels
- Raises public awareness on the critical role of Earth Observation in sustainable development
GMES and Africa will deliver 23 Applications across Africa covering the following activities:
- Consolidation of applications already operational in the region
- Extension of operational applications to other regions
- Development of new applications up to the operational stage of the product development cycle: Definition, Specification, Development and Operation
Unlike its predecessor EO programs, GMES and Africa covers the entire African continent, and it is implemented through a Call for Proposals. The Call was launched in May 2017, attracting a number of applicants from across the African continent. Following the close of the Call, the African Union Commission (AUC) evaluated the proposals received in conjunction with the Guidelines on the Call, and selected 13 consortia of institutions representing the five regions of Africa. The consortia are delivering projects on natural resource management, particularly relevant to Water and Natural Resources, as well as Marine and Coastal Areas.
The African Union Kwame Nkrumah Awards for Scientific Excellence
“We shall accumulate machinery and establish steel works, iron foundries and factories; we shall link the various States of our continent with communications; we shall astound the world with our hydroelectric power; we shall drain marshes and swamps, clear infested areas, feed the under-nourished, and rid our people of parasites and disease. It is within the possibility of science and technology to make even the Sahara bloom into a vast field with verdant vegetation for agricultural and industrial developments”.
Kwame Nkrumah
The African Union Commission is committed to ensuring that science, technology and innovation contribute to Africa’s sustainable development efforts. The Constitutive Act establishing the African Union recognizes the need to advance the development of Africa by promoting research in all fields, and in science and technology in particular. The Commission, through its Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology, implements a strategic science and technology development programme through the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy (STISA-2024), aimed at contributing to the wellbeing and improved quality of life of African citizens as articulated in the African Union Agenda 2063.
In January 2007, AU Heads of State and Government declared 2007 as “the launching year for building constituencies and champions for science, technology and innovation in Africa”. As a holistic and deliberate measure to maintain science and technology on top of our development, cooperation and political agenda, the Commission urged the Member States and the Regional Economic Communities to popularize science, technology and innovation among African citizens, and to empower them, celebrate their achievements and promote all efforts to transform scientific research into sustainable development.
With the support of its Development Partners, particularly the European Commission, the African Union Commission launched on 9 September 2008, the prestigious African Union Science Award Programme, later renamed the “African Union Kwame Nkrumah Awards for Scientific Excellence” (AUKNASE), by the African Union Heads of State and Government in memory of leading Pan-Africanist and First President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
A firm believer in African liberation and unity, Nkrumah pursued a revolutionary pan-African policy, with a strong vision extending beyond national boundaries, for the creation of a new Africa, “a federal union of African states”, to take charge of its own destiny. He is among the founding fathers of the then Organization of African Unity established in 1963, an important pan-Africanist organization which later become the African Union in 2002.
The programme is implemented at national level for young researchers, at the regional level for women scientists and at the continental level for all scientists. The objective is to give out science awards to top African scientists for their achievements and valuable discoveries and findings in science, technology and innovation. AUKNASE reflects and underscores a success story and the critical role of science and technology in the development and integration of Africa. Under this programme, prizes are awarded to top African scientists in each of the following two sectors (a) Life and Earth Science and innovation; and (b) Basic Science, Technology and Innovation at the national, regional and continental levels.
The African Union Kwame Nkrumah Awards for Scientific Excellence Programme (AUKNASE) shall be organized at three levels as follows:
- Continental level, where two awards of USD 100,000 are given to African pioneer scientists
- Regional level, where two African women scientists from each of the five geographical regions of Africa are given USD 20,000 each, and
- National level, dedicated to young African researchers, where two prizes are given per country and the value of the prizes is determined by the African Union Commission
The objectives of AUKNASE are to:
- Award and honour outstanding African scientists for their achievements and discoveries in science, technology and innovation;
- Promote scientific development in Africa through recognition of excellence among African scientists, women, men and younger researchers and encourage them to persevere in their research or academic careers, and nurture their ambitions;
- Popularize and promote public understanding of and participation in the implementation of the African Union Agenda 2063, through the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2024), the Sustainable Development Goals and the AU Assembly decisions on science, technology and innovation; and
- Raise the profile of the science, technology and innovation sector in African Union Member States, and in the Regional Economic Communities so that science, technology and innovation can effectively contribute to Africa’s sustainable development, poverty alleviation and integration efforts.
African Union Research Grant
The African Union Research Grant (AURG) is one of the activities initiated within the Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST) to support research and development through grants and direct funding. It provides the opportunity to use science and technology as a tool for driving sustainable development, building and strengthening Africa’s science and technology capacity, and serves as a platform for the implementation of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024).
The AURG initiative is a continental programme whose benefits trickle down to the regional and national levels enhancing integration and supporting an African alliance through collaborative networks in science and technology. The objective is to empower African researchers to collectively contribute to addressing common developmental challenges in science and technology. The programme therefore provides a framework for the African Union Commission to deploy and to improve research in science and technology so that it contributes to Africa’s poverty reduction, economic growth and social development efforts. Specifically, the AURG aims to:
- Build the AU Commission’s capacity to create a sustainable system of competitive research grants at Pan¬-African level and to put in place procedures and processes to manage such grants with the ambition of utilizing the experience to develop a fully-fledged African Programme Framework for research;
- Build Africa’s research capacities through direct funding of the AU’s science and technology policies, particularly the implementation of the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy (STISA 2024)
- Enhance intra-regional scientific research collaboration and cooperation that contributes to Africa’s sustainable development.
The AURG ultimately targets moving towards a more united and self-reliant Africa in Science, Technology and Innovations breakthroughs in food security, energy efficiency, clean and potable water. Implementing the AURG entails proposal assessment phases based on agreed methodology and criteria by external assessors and supported by in-house members of the evaluation committee as well as the programme management unit of the African Union Commission. At every assessment phase, applications not meeting the threshold are eliminated while those proceeding to the next phase are ranked by scores.
It is expected that through this program, the Africa Union Commission and its partners will contribute positively to achieving the following:
- Enhanced African partnership framework for joint research, development and exchange of information;
- The establishment a credible and competitive system of grants management as an innovative way to involve African citizens to work together on common development priorities ;
- Harmonized research efforts and resources, providing African farmers and policy makers with decision support tools, based on scientifically validated indigenous knowledge
- In-depth evidence-based multi-level and interdisciplinary know-how to sustainably manage and resolve conflicts;
- Boosting in research capacities and cooperation in Africa for increased innovation in science and technology to Increase productivity and food security, decrease dependence on imported energy, as well as increased knowledge of water resources and capacity building through training of post graduates scholars and researchers.
