Author: Nelly-Helen Ebruka
11/10/2025 | Reflections
Shashank Deora edited this post.
In April 2025, after years of anticipation, the African Space Agency (AfSA) was formally inaugurated in Cairo. That same week, I attended the 5th NewSpace Africa Conference, a high-level forum dedicated to Africa’s growing space economy. Just two months later, I was at Living Planet Symposium in Vienna, the world’s largest Earth Observation (EO) conference which was hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA). Both events featured rich discussions on Africa–EU space cooperation, with recurring calls for joint decision-making and stronger local ownership in projects implementation.
Image credit: Space in Africa
Although these discussions focused on the developmental potential of space technology in Africa, they also revealed how the continent’s space sector is embedded within wider geopolitical dynamics. In this context, the concept of 'space diplomacy' is particularly relevant. Space diplomacy describes how actors engage in international partnerships to achieve outer space-related objectives. Space diplomacy sits within the broader umbrella of 'science diplomacy', where science projects and collaborations are leveraged to achieve foreign policy goals.
In this blog, I reflect on the role of EO projects, particularly those anchored in the Copernicus programme, as instruments of contemporary space diplomacy. I ask: what can Copernicus reveal about the political dynamics shaping Africa–EU space relations?
The Institutional Arc of Africa–Europe Space Cooperation
Since the early 2000s, the EU has played a central role in funding and implementing EO programmes across Africa culminating in the Africa-EU space partnership programme 2025. This trajectory began with the Preparation for the Use of Meteosat Second Generation in Africa (PUMA, 2001–2006), continued through subsequent EO projects, and is now represented by the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) & Africa programme (2016–2025). These projects have strengthened Africa’s technical capacities in EO. ESA, though institutionally separate from the EU, has also supported capacity-building through the EO Africa initiative (2021–2027), with a strong focus on research and innovation.
These projects by the EU are not isolated initiatives but are a critical implementation of the Joint Africa–EU Strategy (JAES), adopted in 2007. Under the JAES, space partnerships was integrated as part of a long-term vision for sustainable development. Consequently, these programmes have largely been funded, and implemented by European insitutions and expertise. This long-standing funding trajectory forms the institutional backdrop against which Copernicus and broader discussions of co-design and diplomacy must be situated.
The Copernicus programme
Copernicus comprises of a fleet of Sentinel satellites and other systems, such as ground stations, that ensure the provision of near-real-time EO data. It is funded by the European Commission and co-managed with ESA and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). Data from these satellites support applications that improve climate monitoring, urban planning and disaster response. With its open-data policy and international agreements, Copernicus has expanded well beyond Europe. In its engagement with Africa through the Copernicus programme, the EU projects a sense of collective responsibility and shared urgency in using space technologies to address global challenges. In Africa, Copernicus data underpins programmes like GMES & Africa. It supports decision-making in areas such as food security, disaster preparedness, and environmental management.
The Africa–EU space partnership panel at the New Space Africa Conference in Cairo emphasised continuity and cooperation to tackle Africa’s urgent environmental and developmental challenges. Speakers highlighted examples where satellite systems were repurposed to meet regional needs and where localised applications showed measurable success. “African ownership” was a recurring phrase, repeated with optimism and urgency. At the Living Planet Symposium in Vienna, scientists and educators from across Africa and Europe discussed the realities of using satellite data on the ground. One speaker explicitly stressed the need for stronger institutional leadership in Africa to ensure long-term impact from foreign support.
Rethinking Partnership: The Stakes of Co-Creation
Drawing on the more realistic turn in science diplomacy literature, it is important to acknowledge that science diplomacy does not operate in a vucum outside of geopolitics. Rather, it is increasingly shaped by interests and political calculations. As Rungius and Flink caution, science diplomacy is often romanticised in ways that obscure the politics and power asymmetries embedded in international cooperation.
In this context, Copernicus, as a space diplomacy tool, is not only a technical platform but also a vehicle of soft power. For the EU, Copernicus showcases scientific leadership, and global responsibility. For Africa, it provides access to essential data for development, training, and capacity-building. While Copernicus plays a valuable role in climate adaptation, early warning systems, and public policy, it is also a platform through which Europe projects soft power and extends its policy influence. The question, then, is not whether Copernicus is useful (it clearly is) but rather what its long-term implications are for Africa. This is especially critical given the continent’s need to reduce dependence on foreign technologies and move beyond the role of a consumer of space products.
These concerns matter all the more because broader Africa–EU relations continue to be shaped by enduring asymmetries and strategic misalignments.
On this note, a promising discourse emerged in both Cairo and Vienna: the growing emphasis on co-design and co-creation. Panellists from both continents increasingly invoked the language of local ownership, and mutual decision-making as relevant to realise the benefits of space partnerships in Africa. The call for co-creation is gaining traction across Africa’s engagements with foreign partners. Recently in August 2025, it was the central theme of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in 2025.
However, for space cooperation to reflect genuine African agency, projects should go beyond being solely co-created and create room for strengthing independent local capacity. This aligns closely with the vision of Agenda 2063, which calls for a pan-African projects, (the outer space programme included) to be driven by regional efforts. If co-design and creation is to be more than another political rhetoric, it must be grounded in institutional arrangements that empower African actors to steer space governance within and beyond the continent. The growing strategic interest in Africa by major space actors such as China, and Russia, makes Africa–EU space diplomacy even more consequential with regards its wider implications in geopolitics.
In conclusion, the diplomatic value of Copernicus-linked EO projects lies not only in the provision of data, but also in their potential to serve as a platform for African leadership. Without this dimension, they risk reinforcing long-term dependence on foreign technology. As Africa builds the institutional capacity to plan, fund, and sustain its own space initiatives, cooperation with Europe would not perpetuate dependency but become a genuine pathway towards sovereignty.
Bio: Nelly-Helen Ebruka is a PhD Researcher in Politics at the University of Manchester, where her research focuses on Africa–EU outer space cooperation on earth observation. She currently hosts a monthly virtual programme, Space Dialogue Sessions with Nelly, at Spacehubs Africa that provides a platform for students, young professionals and experts to discuss key issues shaping Africa’s space sector. She has a master’s in Diplomacy and International Relations. Through both her academic work and advocacy, she is committed to advancing Africa’s outer space programme and strengthening the continent’s international partnerships in space.
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Published: 10/11/2025