Posted on: November 04, 2013
Participants to the event, chaired by Prof. Refaat Chaabouni, Professor Emeritus at the National School of Engineering of Tunis (front row, centre)
ASECNA in conjunction with the European Commission (EC) organised on October 1st, 2013, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, an event in order to initiate and boost the process towards an appropriate financing scheme structure for the pan-African satellite navigation infrastructure deployment.
The Africa-European Union (EU) cooperation on satellite navigation has been expedited in the last few years, and the first step towards the provision of satellite navigation services in Africa has been undertaken. This was built upon the adoption of the Second Action Plan (2011-2013) to implement the joint Africa-EU Strategy, several 2010 political declarations, and the 2011-12 funding decisions by the European Commission (DG DEVCO) and the Africa-EU Infrastructure Trust Fund (ITF). In particular, under the auspices of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) Secretariat and of the EC, a Joint Programme Office (JPO) is currently being set up in Dakar with the mission to manage the future activities of the pan-African satellite navigation infrastructure deployment (cf. former news).
Indeed, from 2014 on, the next phase of the programme is to be undertaken with the deployment of the actual system infrastructure, its certification and exploitation. In order to face these next challenges, funding has to be sought out and a proper financial structuring to be prepared.
The event took place in this context and gathered African and European financing institutions and institutional stakeholders among which, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), European Investment Bank (EIB), Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD), Banque des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale (BDEAC), Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), Commission Africaine de l’Aviation Civile (CAFAC), Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale (CEMAC), Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA), South African National Space Agency (SANSA).
Through several work sessions, the event has been an opportunity for the participants to get information about the initiative of the satellite navigation infrastructure deployment in Africa and on its expected benefits, to be informed of the related financing requirements, to make their own contribution to the discussions on the financing scheme in the light of its pan-African dimension, and to agree on the way forward.
Last but not least, the participants expressed their interest and willingness to further support the initiative through a joint Declaration of Intent and agreed on the need to push forward the works thus initiated. A follow-up event is already planned to take place in Africa, first trimester 2014.