Cooperation in earth observation missions in Africa: a role for afrigeoss

This paper is aimed at examining the role of African Global Earth Observation System of Systems (AfriGEOSS) in Earth Observation (EO) mission cooperation on the continent of Africa. It discusses the importance of earth observation programs for developing countries as well as the benefits of international cooperative efforts. The paper further examined some collaborative projects on Earth Observation in Africa and their associated problems. It specifically looked at the EO data coordination initiatives such as the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), GEOSS, Africa Discovery Broker, etc. It then situates AfriGEOSS in the context of African Space Agenda (ASA) with recommendations especially to the Africa Union Commission for the realization of ASA set goals. The paper reiterated that regardless of whether developed or developing, Earth observation information provides substantial benefit supporting economic development, decision making and policy implementation of all countries of the world. This is as a result of its multifarious benefits to humans in areas like agriculture, forestry, risk management, disaster monitoring, maritime, defence and security and natural resources management. Consequently, the paper argued that the numerous benefits from space assets have driven countries within the continent of Africa to either acquire or develop capabilities in space systems which is devoted to improving quality of life in general. The paper concluded that while space systems are expensive, there is need for continuity and sustainability as a result of its numerous advantages to the human’s society.