Space agency launch initiates Zimbabwe into space age

Zimbabwe on Monday officially launched the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency building and the Zimbabwe Science Park 1 Complex at the University of Zimbabwe.

The two projects are poised to drive the country's scientific and technological innovation.

Commissioning the agency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said it was mandated to design, regulate, promote, coordinate and conduct research and development initiatives that promote advances in geospatial science and earth observation, space engineering, space science, aeronautical engineering and global navigation satellite system.

"The use of space technologies presents vast opportunities, such as managing our abundant natural resources, environmental hazards and disasters, weather forecasting, climate change mitigation and adaptation, agriculture and food security, as well as disease outbreaks," he said.

The agency was established through an Act of Parliament in 2019 to conduct research and implement the country's geospatial space programs.

Fanuel Tagwira, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Innovation, Science and Technology, said the agency is Zimbabwe's way of catching up with other countries that are using technology to solve several of their problems.

The agency, seen as the missing link in the country's scientific landscape, was allocated $7 million for its operation in the 2020 national budget.

Tagwira said the African Union Agenda 2063 and the AU's Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa placed greater emphasis on African countries making use of space technology for development, as well as utilizing science innovation and technology to solve national and developmental challenges.

To date, the agency has completed strategic national projects through the use of space science technology, among them the establishment of the Ground Control Station in Mazowe, the first national space project. Others include the Wetlands Master Plan and re-mapping of the country's agro-ecological zones.

According to the AU 2017 African Space Policy, if Africa is to leapfrog into the technological advancements of the 21st century, the continent needs to develop an adequate number of indigenous space scientists, engineers and related professionals who will actively contribute to finding solutions to continental problems.

While the African space sector is described as nascent, the 2019 African Space Industry Annual Report estimates the industry's worth at $7.4 billion and projects it to grow to over $10 billion in the next five years. South Africa has 34 NewSpace companies, the highest on the continent.