Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty during the African Space Agency’s (AfSA) inauguration ceremony in Egypt's Space City, Cairo. Photo by Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
The ceremony was attended by Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Bard Abdelatty; Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Ayman Ashour; CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) Sherif Sedqy; several other high-ranking officials of Arab and foreign space agencies; and African and international ambassadors.
Air Marshal Mahmoud Fouad Abdel-Gawad, Commander of the Egyptian Air Force, represented the Minister of Defence and Military Production at the event.
In attendance were Mário Augusto da Silva Oliveira, Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies, and Social Communication of Angola, and Prof. Dr. Arsène Toka Kouadio Kobia, Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Côte d'Ivoire.
During the event, the AfSA also unveiled its new logo, which was selected after a design competition for African youth aged 18 to 29. The contest required using African Union colours as part of the agency's effort to build a visual identity reflecting its space ambitions. Cameroonian designer Remy Bouelet submitted the winning design.
According to the agency's official website, the AfSA is the African Union's leading body for space activities. Based in Egypt's Space City, it was created to lead and coordinate the continent's space goals.
According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry's statement, the AfSA aims to help African countries develop space technologies to support social and economic growth in line with the African Union's 2063 agenda, an effort that Egypt has strongly backed as part of its leadership role on the continent and its push to establish the agency.
The agency will work on solving key challenges across the continent by collecting and analysing data and running practical programs in various fields.
These fields include food security, crop production and distribution, ecosystem and biodiversity monitoring, disease prevention, groundwater and surface water monitoring, rainfall measurement, coastal degradation tracking, security enhancement, disaster response, and mapping governmental ICT infrastructure.
In his speech at the event, Abdelatty said the agency will boost cooperation among African countries in using space peacefully. It would also contribute to sharing expertise, building skills, and unifying African nations' stance in international forums, especially at the UN.
He also expressed pride in Egypt's hosting of the agency, describing it as a turning point in joint African efforts and a leap toward future readiness in space technology and policy.
In addition, the foreign minister stressed the need to work with research centres, universities, and global space agencies, and thanked the African Union, member states, and all who supported the project.
EgSA's CEO, Sherif Sedqy, emphasised in his speech that the inauguration of the African Space Agency marks a milestone in the continent’s journey toward space exploration and the application of space sciences to support sustainable development goals.
He highlighted that hosting the agency’s headquarters within Egypt’s Space City reflects the country’s deep commitment to African integration in space science and technology.
Sedqy noted that the agency will play a pivotal role in implementing continental space policies and strategies in alignment with the Africa Agenda 2063.
He praised Egypt’s generous support of $20 million to boost the agency’s operations and provide the advanced infrastructure needed.
He also showcased Egypt’s leading initiatives to support the African space sector, most notably the "African Space Training Program," which has graduated 71 engineers and scientists from 34 African countries, and the "African Development Satellite" project, currently under development in collaboration with several sister nations.
He added that this initiative addresses climate change challenges by providing precise space-based data.
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