The African Space Race

Image Credits :Geralt, CC0

Though a billion people live in poverty, one way of boosting development could be via rocket science.

For the first time, science and education ministers in Africa have embraced a space policy. The policy was agreed in October 2015. While, at the African Union summit in February 2016, African leaders will ratify the strategy.

Ministers will be hoping that the strategy will mirror the success of India, following its success with its Mangalyaan orbiter in September 2014. The orbiter gave India the honour of being the first nation to ever successfully put a spacecraft into Mars’ orbit with its initial attempt.

The impressive advances in space exploration by India has created an interesting situation regarding overseas development assistance, concerning public campaigns. When countries are able to successfully build and launch spacecraft it then puts donors on the spot as far as justifying financial support for the nations involved. This situation will arise in Africa, as the African Union is determined to show that space science should not be something just involving rich nations.

Africa’s space strategy aims to offer support to countries, though nowhere near as rich as China and India, in terms of building technological capacity. Consequently, development charities that work in Africa will have to put forward the case that development assists aerospace capability, and that space technology is useful for development.

Space technology in Africa will involve science, tech-related entrepreneurs and those working in development. Examples of how a national space programme can help society, include data from satellites revealing water shortages and how to gain better access to water.

Agenda 2063 is a long-term plan by the African Union, and which is like a regional version of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Agenda 2063 is designed to ensure that aid and investment in Africa is directed towards those issues that individual governments regard as the most pressing.

However, science and technology can prove to be awkward for the international development community, particularly for past colonial powers, who may be accused of paternalism. There is also often a difference between Africans and international donors/investors when it comes to what matters most, i.e. a typical development policy will favour irrigation over mobile phone apps.

Today, judging a country’s development is beginning to change. A nation’s income levels is, for instance, now not so relevant when judging its progress. India is a middle-income country, and has the finances to be able to send a spacecraft to Mars. Though that doesn’t hide the fact that it’s still a country that has genuine development needs. A space programme is one way that these development needs can be boosted, by way of the innovation and industrial growth resulting from the space programme itself.

With global development having a limited impact on poverty it seems that new ways of tackling the problem are necessary. One interesting way is to look at a space programme as another form of development – and positive changes could happen very quickly.