The debate over Africa space programs policy to practice has left the conference hall. At the Africa Space Expo (ASPEX) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, the question that kept surfacing was whether Africa can move from using space technology to building more of it. The expo closed last week, and it was less about rockets and astronauts than about workshops, data and money.
Ghana as a test case
Ghana’s numbers show how slowly policy becomes hardware. Its National Space Policy was approved by cabinet in 2022 and launched in 2024, and the government approved a Ghana Space Agency in 2025. Engineers have already done some practical work. Through a partnership with South Africa, Ghana turned an unused 32-metre antenna at Kuntunse into a working radio telescope.
Joseph Tandoh, who directs the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute, wants to start with the application layer. His immediate goal is a satellite-data processing hub that can serve ministries across government before the country designs and launches satellites of its own. One project, GEOMAIZE, run with Belgium’s VITO institute, has shown how satellite data can help Ghanaian agriculture.
The money problem
Not everyone at the expo was patient. One engineer argued that borrowed technology cannot last, and another called for African satellites to be assembled on the continent by the next expo. Startups face a plainer obstacle. Galaxy Aerospace Ghana’s chief said the team has the knowledge and research and simply needs funds, and the company could not take part in this year’s expo.
The gap is not unique to Ghana. Limited investment, infrastructure and manufacturing capacity slow local space technology across much of Africa.
Who is ahead
South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have set up space laboratories and built test satellites. Kenya’s Taifa-1, its first operational satellite, reached orbit on 14 April 2023 after launching from California, which shows the pattern well. The satellite was African-owned, but the rocket was not.
The next test is whether agencies, budgets and assembly lines follow the strategy papers. ASPEX also aims to connect investors with African startups, researchers and space projects. That introduction only matters if it ends in signed cheques.
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