How Africa’s space race is quietly taking off

What started as small communications projects is now shaping into a multibillion-dollar sector.

In 2025 alone, over 15 African countries are actively involved in space programmes, with Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya leading the charge. According to the African Space Industry Annual Report, the continent’s space economy was valued at $19.49 billion in 2023 and is projected to hit $23 billion by 2026.

Country-by-Country Dispatches

• Egypt hosts the African Space Agency headquarters and a satellite assembly lab in its futuristic "Space City." The lab, assembled largely with Chinese support, produced MisrSat-2, an Earth observation satellite launched in December 2023, along with other observation and military-capable satellites.
• Kenya is reviving the Italian-run Luigi Broglio Space Centre, aiming to relaunch Earth observation and research missions. In April 2023, Kenya also completed TAIFA-1, a 3U CubeSat built by Kenyan engineers to expand indigenous satellite capability.
• Rwanda is building its space vision via the Rwanda Space Agency (RSA), established in 2020. It launched RWASAT-1 in 2019 and Icyerekezo, a satellite delivering internet to remote areas like Nkombo Island. The RSA also leads the Rwanda Climate Observatory, tracking greenhouse gases.
• Ghana’s GSSTI (Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute), established in 2012, is pushing Earth imaging using locally developed satellites, while seeking international funding to accelerate research capabilities.
• South Africa, already a leader in radio astronomy through the SKA and MeerKAT telescopes, launched a sub-orbital rocket in December 2024 to study Earth’s magnetic field, while boosting public-private satellite R&D through agencies like SANSA.
• Nigeria, Ethiopia, Botswana, Senegal, Djibouti, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Angola and others are making satellite developments, building observatories, and drafting space strategies across the continent.

The NewSpace Africa Conference 2025, held in Egypt, also officially launched AfSA and unveiled the EU-Africa Space Programme, a €100 million collaboration supported by NASA, ESA, Airbus, and more.

While China leads the charge in infrastructure development, it has 23 bilateral space partnerships across Africa, spreading from satellite assembly labs to monitoring telescopes with strategic advantages like data access and long-term presence. Egypt, South Africa, and Senegal are also engaged in a proposed moon base program.

While resource constraints and external dependencies remain, the launch of AfSA, growth in local expertise, and growing international partnerships give hope that space might now be an instrument for inclusive development.