Africa's national space budgets have grown to $800 million, up from less than $300 million in 2018, as governments across the continent scramble for satellite data and orbital resources in a race dominated by bigger powers. The money is flowing upward through state agencies, continental bodies, and international partnerships, while officials warn that developing countries could lose access if they don’t secure a place in the system now.
Who Holds the Orbit
Temidayo Oniosun, founder of Lagos-based consultancy Space in Africa, said the figure reflects a sector that is expanding quickly. He said the African Union has a new continental space agency in Cairo, and the number of countries on the continent with a space programme has jumped from eight to more than 20 since 2018. That’s the shape of the new scramble: more flags, more agencies, more budgets, and the same old fight over who gets to control the data.
The article said African states invest around $500 million in space programmes annually, a figure expected to reach around $40 billion by 2030. It also said the global space market was $132 billion in 2024, with 60 percent of it from the United States. The numbers make the hierarchy plain. The richest players still set the terms, and everyone else is trying to buy a seat at a table they didn’t build.
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame said Africa must not only use space capabilities but also contribute to science, research and global decision-making. “Ultimately, we must avoid replicating in space the inequalities that exist in other domains,” he told attendees at the first International Space Summit, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris last week. The warning lands because the inequalities are already there, just wearing a cleaner suit and orbiting higher.
The Bottom Line for Ordinary People
The continent sent several sizeable delegations to the two-day event on 9 and 10 September, underlining the sector's strategic importance for Africa. Rwanda is active in the field. It launched its first satellite in 2019 and established the Rwanda Space Agency in 2020. In June this year, Rwanda's Rwamagana ground station became the first in sub-Saharan Africa to be certified by the World Teleport Association, enabling the large-scale analysis of satellite data.
Adelin Kajangwe, project director at the Rwandan Space Agency, said, “This is the work we do on a daily basis across various sectors, including natural disaster management, agriculture, healthcare, telecommunications.” That’s the pitch: satellites as infrastructure, data as power, and state agencies as the gatekeepers deciding how those tools get used.
Several African states, including Rwanda, supported the African Telecommunications Union's efforts to regain several orbital slots for the continent. Kagame said competition for spectrum and orbital resources is intensifying as satellite constellations expand. “As satellite constellations expand, competition for spectrum and orbital resources is also intensifying, putting developing countries at risk of losing access,” he said. He also said, “Technology transfer is equally important. Export restriction continues to limit access to knowledge and modern technologies. We therefore welcome partnerships that advance research and enhance local capacity.”
The language is diplomatic. The structure is not. Access is scarce, control is concentrated, and the countries with less power are forced to negotiate for scraps of a system already carved up by the powerful.
Pooling Resources, Guarding Data
The article said better satellite data is seen as key for urban planning and environmental monitoring on a continent whose cities are growing rapidly and whose farmers and fishers are increasingly at the mercy of a changing climate. Denis Sassou N'guesso, the President of the Republic of Congo, said he wants to transform cutting-edge satellite technology into an indispensable tool for environmental governance across the whole of Central Africa. He said, “That is why we are committed to African cooperation and integration in the field of space policy, as we must, in this competitive sector, avoid developing 54 isolated space policies, when we can pool our infrastructure, data, expertise and investment.”
He also demanded sovereign, direct and guaranteed access to high-precision satellite imagery, calling it a “non-negotiable” security requirement for monitoring illegal deforestation. That demand shows what’s really at stake: not just science, but control over information, territory, and enforcement.
Emmanuel Macron reiterated France's commitment to making space a driver of climate solidarity between rich and poor nations. He called for shared governance of space and space data, arguing that space science and its data cannot become the property of a single country or bloc. He said there would be an additional €40 million for an Earth-observation programme via the French national space agency CNES, on top of roughly €20 billion in broader European space investment pledged through 2030. The scale tells its own story. The rich fund the rules, then call it solidarity.
Kwaku Sumah, founder of SpaceHubs Africa, said, “I think that, for Africa, the real challenge is to take control of its data, its own intellectual property, and what is done with the satellites.” He added, “It's also about being the first to access the data and retaining control over it. African countries rely heavily on open-source data. They can continue to make use of it whilst developing their local capabilities.”
Senegal is a newer entrant but is moving quickly. It put its first satellite, GaindéSat-1A, into orbit in August 2024, designed and built by Senegalese engineers. Maram Kairé, director general of the Senegalese Space Studies Agency, said Senegal is now exploring an offshore site to launch rockets from Senegalese territory. He defended the roughly $500 million invested annually in Africa's space programme because it can directly serve priorities like road planning, hospitals and agriculture.
Kairé said, “Advancing health care, a priority in Africa, requires the development of telemedicine. Investing in space technology is a concrete solution for leveraging telemedicine to overcome the distance-related challenges we currently face on the continent.” He also said satellites help fill the dead zones left by internet cable connection. “We must ensure that access to the Internet is equitable and that every citizen, no matter where they are in the country, can have access to these services. Satellites provide access to these remote areas,” he said.
He pushed back on the idea that African nations are financially or technologically dependent on outside powers. “There is room for everyone, and we are simply working with the best. Every state is free to choose its partners. We, for example, have joined both China's lunar station project and the United States-led Artemis Accords for the return of humans to the Moon,” he said. Senegal is currently working on a joint satellite initiative with Rwanda, Ghana and Kenya. Kairé said, “This shows how we are pooling our efforts and resources on the continent. And I believe this trend will continue as the African Space Agency begins its operations.”
Côte d'Ivoire named its first space agency director last month and will host the African Space Expo later this month. The agencies keep multiplying. So do the claims of progress. The question underneath all of it is who gets the data, who gets the leverage, and who gets left waiting outside the launch pad.