Plans dating back to 2016 for an organization of African space interests came to fruition in April 2025 with ceremonies marking the creation of the Cairo-based African Space Agency (AfSA).
A central objective of AfSA is to enhance space missions across Africa, ensuring optimal access to space-derived data, information, services and products, the agency said on its website. All 55 nations of the African Union are represented in the new agency. Its 10-member governing council consists of members from Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria and Rwanda.
“Space is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity,” Tidiane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire, AfSA Council president, said during a speech in February 2025.
AfSA headquarters are in Egypt Space City, a 123-acre campus designed to support Africa’s space exploration efforts. Egypt launched Africa’s first satellite in 1998. Since then, 18 African countries have launched 63 satellites and many African nations have implemented their own space programs, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). AfSA’s first agreements include cooperation on satellite development with the ESA, the world’s other regional space agency.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton, commander of U.S. Space Forces-Europe and Africa, joined the U.S. delegation at AfSA’s inaugural ceremonies in Cairo. Middleton also met with Rear Adm. Mohamed A. Omran, chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces’ space program, to explore opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in space, according to an Air Force report.