04 Feb Africa and the EU strengthen collaboration with a new EUR 100 million Space Partnership Programme

At the EU Space Conference in Brussels, the European Commission signed and announced the Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme, an initiative backed by a EUR 100 million investment and critical to the EU’s Global Gateway strategy to deepen space cooperation between the European Commission and Africa. This milestone, resulting from years of collaboration, is focused on reinforcing commitments to sustainable development, the green transition, and digitalisation across the African continent.
The programme will be officially launched at the NewSpace Africa Conference in April 2025, marking the beginning of its implementation.
The signing ceremony, held on the sidelines of the EU Space Conference in Brussels, brought together key representatives from both regions. Attendees included H.E. Dr Tidiane Ouattara, President, Council of African Space Agency; Dr Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency (ESA); Phil Evans, Director General, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Florence Rabier, Director General, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF); Marjeta Jäger, Deputy Director-General, International Partnerships (INTPA), European Commission; Cecilia Donati, Policy Officer Space Cooperation, European Commission; and Catherine Kavvada, Director, Coordinator for Innovation, Applications, and International Cooperation, European Commission.
The programme will focus on three strategic areas:
1. Advancing the green transition by developing space-based services that enhance early warning systems for hazardous weather and climate-related events. This will improve disaster preparedness and response on the African continent, disproportionally affected by climate change.
2. Strengthening institutional collaboration between the EU and African nations to enhance decision-making and improve policy frameworks in the space sector.
3. This initiative aims to enhance Africa’s space industry by boosting capabilities, fostering innovation, and developing a dynamic space-based data economy to drive sustainable growth. It will actively involve European private companies in service provision, capacity building, and technological advancements. By supporting Africa’s space sector, this collaboration will also create new market opportunities for European companies, stimulate innovation, and enhance the global competitiveness of the EU space industry.
The Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme is a flagship component of the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy, which aims to mobilise investments in key sectors to promote sustainable development and build equitable global partnerships. By investing in Africa’s space sector, the programme directly contributes to the strategy’s goals of fostering resilience, promoting digitalisation, and advancing climate action through cutting-edge technology and innovation.
The programme leverages European space technologies to support Africa’s sustainable development in sectors like agriculture, climate monitoring, and disaster risk reduction. It relies on Copernicus for Earth observation and Galileo and EGNOS for navigation while also supporting Africa’s space ambitions through the African Space Policy and Strategy. Initiatives like GMES & Africa enable access to and utilisation of crucial satellite data to develop applications in the fields of Land, Water, Natural Resources, and Marine and Coastal Areas.
The programme builds on over two decades of EU-Africa collaboration in the space sector, during which the EU invested €200 million. By increasing the uptake of space-based data and fostering institutional and private sector capacity, the programme will empower African countries to:
1. Monitor environmental changes more effectively.
2. Reduce risks from natural disasters through advanced early warning systems.
3. Support sustainable economic growth, including through safer air traffic management enabled by the development of Africa’s Satellite Navigation (SatNav) system.
Next Steps
The Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme aligns with the African Union’s Space Policy and Strategy and supports the joint priorities of the African Union – European Union Innovation Agenda, particularly leveraging space technology for the green transition and innovation-driven growth.
Key milestones in this partnership include the establishment of the African Space Agency (AfSA) in 2023 and the election of the African Space Council in 2024. The first phase of the Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme is set to launch in early 2025, focusing on institutional and technical capacity building while fostering innovation for long-term resilience and development.
Implemented in collaboration with key organisations such as the European Space Agency (ESA), EUMETSAT, ECMWF, ASECNA, and AfSA, this initiative reinforces the EU and Africa’s commitment to harnessing space technologies to tackle shared challenges, drive economic growth, and promote a sustainable and inclusive future.
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