Somalia Highlights Space Development Priorities at China-Africa Meeting

Beijing, (SONNA) — Somalia strengthened its engagement in Africa’s emerging space and Earth-observation sector through participation in the 4th Symposium on China–Africa Satellite Remote Sensing Application Cooperation in Beijing, highlighting the country’s ambition to use satellite technology for national development, resilience and evidence-based decision-making.

The two-day symposium, held from 15–16 September 2026 at The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, brought together government officials, space-sector leaders, scientists and technical experts from China and across Africa to exchange practical experiences in satellite remote sensing and Earth observation. The official programme focused on country use cases and practical applications of satellite data.

Somalia was represented by officials from the Space and Satellite Department of the Ministry of Communications and Technology of the Federal Republic of Somalia, led by Mohamed Abubakar Ismail, Director of Space and Satellite, accompanied by Eng. Afey.

During the symposium, the Somali delegation delivered a presentation titled “Space for Development: Somalia’s Journey Toward a Resilient and Connected Future.”

The presentation placed Somalia’s emerging space ambitions within a development-focused framework, emphasising that satellite technology and Earth observation can serve as practical tools to support national priorities.

For Somalia, improved access to satellite data and stronger domestic technical capabilities could support areas such as agriculture, water-resource management, environmental monitoring, national mapping, infrastructure planning, natural-resource management and disaster preparedness.

The Somali delegation emphasised the importance of moving beyond simply accessing satellite information towards building the human and institutional capacity to analyse, interpret and transform Earth-observation data into actionable information inside Somalia.

On 16 September, Director Mohamed Abubakar Ismail moderated Session 2 of the CACSA Country Reports, which featured presentations from Zimbabwe, Egypt, Rwanda, Ghana, Senegal, Gabon and Algeria, covering subjects including national space-data infrastructure, sustainable development, disaster monitoring and satellite remote-sensing applications.

The symposium reflected growing interest across Africa in using space-based technologies to address development challenges. African representatives shared experiences involving agriculture, water and land management, climate and environmental monitoring, national mapping, natural resources, disaster monitoring and sustainable development.

For Somalia, the participation also highlighted the importance of capacity building through knowledge transfer, professional training and sustained institutional cooperation to enable Somali specialists to undertake satellite-data processing and Earth-observation analysis domestically.

Somalia also sees opportunities to expand cooperation through specialised training, joint technical programmes, research partnerships and practical projects connecting satellite capabilities with the country’s development needs.

Somalia’s participation in CACSA 2026 represents a step in the country’s efforts to develop a modern and sustainable national space and satellite capability, with a focus on practical applications of satellite information for planning, resilience and public-sector decision-making.

The Beijing symposium also provided an opportunity for Somalia to deepen relationships with Chinese institutions and African counterparts, exchange technical experiences and identify areas where cooperation can translate into practical projects.