satellite

Published on : 29/04/2023 – 18:40

A satellite 100 % Ivorian. The announcement was made by the Minister of Education and Scientific Research during the NewSpace Africa conference, which was held at the Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan from April 25 to 28. A piece of news applauded by the hundred space actors in Africa participating in the event. Among them, Boubacar Fofana, president of the company behind the nanosatellite project called “Yam-Sat CI 01″. “Yam” for Yamoussoukro, the Ivorian capital, and “Sat CI 01″ to mark the fact that this is the first satellite made in Côte d’Ivoire.

“With our own satellite, we will be able to better observe the advance of terrorists, map the extent of deforestation, detect illegal gold panning or even facilitate access to drinking water”, rejoices the entrepreneur already. This Ivorian satellite, Boubacar Fofana has been dreaming regarding it since 2019. To achieve his ends, he has joined forces with the National Polytechnic Institute Felix Houphouet-Boigny (INP-HB) de Yamoussoukro, a prestigious Ivorian school. A partnership between the public and the private sector which allows it to obtain technical support, premises and collaboration with engineers.

“In our school, we have knowledge and we are already working on the space field. But we needed external support like that of Boubacar Fofana and funding to be able to convince politicians”, recalls Professor Pierre Yourougou, director deputy of the INP-HB. Together, they set up the Yam-Sat CI project 01 and make it their mission to persuade the authorities. “The nanosatellite will be launched in August 2024,” says Boubacar Fofana.

46 African satellites and nanosatellites in space since 1998

This visionary is not the first to dream of a satellite for his country. Already in 2015, the President of the Republic Alassane Ouattara had launched a feasibility study on this subject. But to date, no Ivorian satellite has yet joined the 46 African machines orbiting in space since 1998. The creation of an Ivorian space agency announced in 2021 by the Minister of Education and Scientific Research, Adama Diawara, has still not materialized.

in cause : the lack of funding, the absence of structures and “often vague or non-existent” regulations, acknowledged the minister during his speech at the conference. “I’expertise exists in Côte d’Ivoire, as in many African countries, but it is not structured, nor used”, he underlined, recalling the will of the Ivorian State to move the project forward.

For Boubacar Fofana, there is no need to wait for the creation of an Ivorian space agency to launch satellites. The argument that Côte d’Ivoire lacks the means for this kind of project is not admissible according to him. The entrepreneur estimates that one can start building and launching nanosatellites with 50 million CFA francs, i.e. nearly 80 000 euros. “We can mobilize this money quite easily, whether with private sector investments, donations from INP-HB alumni, government funds, etc. The more we increase the budget, the more we will aim for a quality satellite. and sustainable.”

But launching satellites is not enough, he believes. If Côte d’Ivoire wants to extend the current list of 15 African countries present in space, it will also have to rely on the processing of satellite data, in particular by investing in engineering schools.

The space expert at the African Union Commission and coordinator of the GMES program (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) for Africa, Tidiane Ouattara, calls on African leaders to seize space as a tool of sovereignty. These might benefit from the development support of the African Space Agency, created by the African Union in 2018. An agency approved by 55 countries of the continent and whose headquarters are located in Cairo. The existence of this agency demonstrates that there is an awareness at the continental level. The turnover of the African space sector is also estimated at 10 billion by 2024 according to Sékou Ouedraogo, author of “The African Space Agency. Development Vector” (ed. L’Harmattan), interviewed on France 24.