3rd ASLI Colloquium Day 2 Part 2

The African Outer Space Programme is one of the flagship programmes of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 – Africa’s blueprint for socioeconomic development and integration. The programme is anchored on the African Space Policy and Strategy, which were adopted by African Heads of State and Government in January 2016. These foundational instruments articulate the overarching vision, objectives, principles, and strategic actions required to guide the development of Africa’s space sector. They further provide a continental framework for Africa’s space governance, policy positions, programmes, and international partnerships. The adoption of the African Space Policy and Strategy was followed by significant institutional developments aimed at operationalising the continental space agenda. In January 2018, the Statute of the African Space Agency (AfSA) was adopted, formally establishing the Agency as the coordinating institution for Africa’s continental space activities. The Agency was inaugurated in April 2025 with its official headquarters situated in Cairo, Egypt. To provide strategic foresight and governance for the Agency, the African Space Council, comprising elected representatives from Africa’s five sub-regions together with representatives from the African Union Commission (AUC), was also inaugurated in 2024. In addition, the Division for Science, Technology and Space (STS) within the AUC, further strengthens institutional support for the implementation of the African outer space programme. The year 2026 marks ten years since the adoption of this landmark continental policy and strategic framework. This milestone provides a timely opportunity to assess the progress achieved thus far, critically examine implementation challenges, and articulate a coherent, inclusive, and sustainable vision for the future of Africa’s evolving outer space ambitions and its contribution to continental development objectives. Building on the success of the first and second editions convened in 2024 and 2025 respectively, the African Space Leadership Institute (ASLI) hosted the 3rd ASLI Colloquium on the African Outer Space Programme from 26-27 August 2026. The colloquium was organised around the central question: What has Africa’s space programme achieved since 2016, what challenges and gaps remain, and what priorities should shape the next decade of Africa’s space development? The colloquium provided a high-level interdisciplinary platform for dialogue, critical reflection, and knowledge exchange among academics, policymakers, industry actors, policy and legal experts, researchers, partners and collaborators, and other stakeholders engaged in Africa’s evolving space sector. It further generated evidence-based insights and policy recommendations that would contribute to informing and shaping the next phase of the African outer space programme within the broader objectives of continental development and integration. Accordingly, ASLI hereby invites the submission of abstracts addressing topics relevant to the general colloquium theme: “Ten Years of the African Space Policy and Strategy: Status, Challenges and Future of the African Outer Space Programme.”