The United States of America has taken a new stance aimed at backing African nations to run autonomous space programmes that will run independent of foreign interference.
On Wednesday, December 17, senior bureau official (SBO) in the bureau of african affairs, Ambassador Jonathan Pratt, convened a US-Africa technical and regulatory space training meeting, the first in a series of technical and regulatory trainings in the lead-up to the NewSpace Africa Conference from April 20 to 23, 2026 in Libreville, Gabon.
In an email communication with The Africanscholar, the US state department explained that during the meeting, SBO Pratt conveyed the United States’ aim to empower African nations to create locally owned, financially sound, and internationally-aligned space programs– not dependent, opaque, or controlled by outside actors.
This meeting represented the first step in the United States deepening space diplomacy on the African continent, now with more than 60 satellites in orbit. Representatives agreed to work more closely together to advance responsible exploration in space and collaborate transparently and openly.
Participating in the meeting were representatives from African space agencies, including Senegal, Angola, Mauritius, Djibouti, Nigeria, Kenya, Botswana, Gabon, Ethiopia, Namibia, Rwanda, and Egypt. The meeting also included representatives from the US department of war, department of commerce, and the Federal Communications Commission.
