Africa’s space ambitions are moving from policy to practice

Published On 29 Sep 202629 Sep 2026.

What happened

Accra, Ghana – The Africa Space Expo (ASPEX). It closed in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, last week, was not designed as a showcase for rockets and astronauts. Organisers presented it instead as a marketplace for space applications in food security, climate resilience, territorial monitoring, connectivity and maritime security, bringing start-ups, project labs and investors together to move ideas from demonstration to deployment.

Notably, the event additionally produced a number of concrete agreements. While Angola signed a letter of intent on space cooperation with the United Arab Emirates, the Ivory Coast signed the Artemis Accords, becoming the 75th signatory of the agreement on space exploration and development.

The bottom line

In short, africa's space ambitions are moving from policy to practice is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.