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About AfriGEO

AfriGEO is an initiative of the African community in GEO aimed at providing a coordination framework and platform for Africa's participation in GEO. In addition, it is a:



  • Pan African initiative to raise awareness and develop capacity on EO for governments, research organizations and the commercial sector;
  • Framework for strengthening partnerships and collaborations within Africa;
  • Gateway into Africa for international partners; and
  • Support mechanism for the implementation of GEO objectives and programmes in Africa

The AfriGEO Secretariat, through a resolution of the 2018 Steering Committee meeting held in Gabon, was moved to the Regional Centre for mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) based in Nairobi, Kenya from Geneva where it had been hosted since its inception.
The AfriGEO Objectives are to:


  • Strengthen connection with the current GEO Principals in national government agencies in Africa, participating organizations and enlarge the GEO partnership in the Regional Economic Communities (RECs): ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), AMU( Arab Maghreb Union) , COMESA (Common Marker for Eastern and Southern Africa), CENSAD (Community for Sahel Saharan States) , EAC (East African Community), ECCAS (Economic Community for Central African States), IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), SADC(Southern African Development Community) and with the African Union;
  • Increase uptake of EO in Africa through the promotion of long-term Human Capital Development programmes;
  • Facilitate and drive programmes towards achieving the Global, RECs and Africa wide goals and objectives i.e., AU Agenda 2063, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Climate Agreement;
  • Support international collaboration by connecting national and regional institutions and programmes with GEO and Regional GEOs;
  • Foster creation of synergies to reduce duplication of efforts across Africa;
  • Liaise with the GEO secretariat to ensure synergic and streamlined operations;
  • Advocate for the uptake of EO in decision making and raise awareness on benefits of Earth observations for the continent;
  • Develop a strategy of access and dissemination of Earth observation data and information throughout Africa and
  • Ensure communication, outreach, awareness, user engagement, and mobilization of resources.

7th AfriGEO Symposium Background

AfriGEO symposia are held annually since 2016. They provide an opportunity for the AfriGEO Community to create awareness on the ongoing activities, engage, connect and build meaningful areas of collaborations that support addressing of varied development challenges on the continent using earth observation.

The 7th AfriGEO symposium shall be held at the COSDEF Arts and Crafts Centre, in Swakopmund Namibia from 18-23 September, 2023 and shall be Co-hosted by the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, and the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology. We shall have 3 parallel pre-symposium trainings hosted by: ESRI, Digital Earth Africa and GEO LDN & CBAS taking place from 18-19th Sept. The Symposium itself shall run from 20-22 Sep, 2023. This shall be followed by a field excursion (optional)at a modest contribution towards logistics. During the symposium, we shall have 10 Key sessions: Opening session and a Keynote, Session1: Integrated Decision Making, Session2: Namibia development challenges and solutions offered, Session3: EO for Grassroot service delivery, Session4: Strengthening National Coordination, Session5: Youth session, Session6: Nature based solutions, Session7: Data & Infrastructure, Session8: Strengthening Human Capital in Africa, Session9: Awareness podium, Session 10: GMES & Africa in the heart of the game and a closing session.


Agenda

Time

20th September

21st September

22nd September

8:00-8:30

Registration and Arrival

8:30-10:00

Opening Session

 

Moderator: Dr. Lisho Mundia, MHETI

 

Rapporteur: Teddy Mwangi, RCMRD aand Benyamen Nathanael, NCRST

 

Namibia National and AU Anthem

 

Part 1


Welcome Remarks - 40 Minutes

  1. Erongo Region Governor ( Hon. Naville Nhlanhla Andre)
  2. AfriGEO Secretariat Representative ( Dr. Emmanuel Nkurunziza)
  3. GEO Secretariat Representative ( Dr. Ernest Acheampong)
  4. AUC Representative (Dr. Tidianne Ouattara)
  5. Caucus Chair AfriGEO ( Dr. Mmboneni Muofhe )
  6. Chief Executive Officer, National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCSRT) (Prof. Dr. Anicia Peters)
  7. Namibia Ministry Higher Education Technology and Innovation (MHETI) representative (Hon. Dr. Itah Kandjii-Murangi)

 

Part 2


Highlight: GEO Ministerial Summit 2023, Ernest Acheampong (20 minutes)

 

Keynote1: Role of Space Institutions in supporting AfriGEO Mandate,Humbulani Mudau, SANSA (20 minutes)

 

Session 4: Strengthening National Coordination

 

Moderator: Anastasia Wahome, RCMRD

 

Rapporteur: Benyamen Nathanael, NCRST and Gilt Nyambe, MHETI

 

DE Africa Highlights (15 Minutes), Thembi Xaba

 

Session 8: Strengthening Human Capital in Africa

 

Moderator: Ernest Acheampong, GEO Secretariat

 

Rapporteur: Benyamen Nathanael, NCRST and Gilt Nyambe, MHETI

 

10:00-10:30

Tea Break

10:30-12:30

Session 1: Integrated Decision Making

 

Moderator: Charles Mwangi, KSA

 

Rapporteur: Benyamen Nathanael, NCRST and Gilt Nyambe, MHETI

 

Session 5: Youth session

Young Professionals (under 35 years)

 

Moderator: Kenneth Mubea, DE Africa

 

Rapporteur: Benyamen Nathanael, NCRST and Gilt Nyambe, MHETI

 

 

Session 9: Awareness podium (Industry Track & Cutting-edge Innovation)

 

Moderator: Imraan Saloojee

 

Rapporteur: Sepo Kamwayamunzi, NCRST and Otja Tjiriange, MHETI

 

 

12:30- 14:00

Lunch Break

14:00-15:30

Session 2: Namibia development challenges and solutions offered

 

Moderator: Benson Kenduiywo, CGIAR

 

Rapporteur: Morris Manyika, SASSCAL and Hilya Shikongo, NCRST

 

 

Session 6: Nature based solutions

 

Moderator: Lorien Innes, ESRI

 

Rapporteur:Sepo Kamwayamunzi, NCRST and Otja Tjiriange, MHETI

 

Session 10: GMES & Africa in the heart of the game

 

Moderator: Vivianne Meta, Locate IT

 

Rapporteur: Sepo Kamwayamunzi, NCRST and Otja Tjiriange, MHETI

 

15:30-15:45

Break

Closing Session

 

Moderator: Lulu Makapela, CSIR

 

Rapporteur: Teddy Mwangi, RCMRD and Hilya Shikongo, NCRST

 

Closing Remarks

  1. Reportbacks: Session 1-10(30 Minutes)
  2. Dr. Alfred van Kent, Executive Director, MHETI
  3. Caucus Chair (10 Minutes)

Namibia National and AU Anthem

 

15:30-16:15

 

15:45-17:15

Session 3: EO for Grassroot service delivery

 

Moderator: Natascha Cheikhyoussef, MHETI

 

Rapporteur: Morris Manyika, SASSCAL and Hilya Shikongo, NCRST

 

 

Session 7: Data & Infrastructure

 

Moderator: Nale Mudau , SANSA

 

Rapporteur: Sepo Kamwayamunzi, NCRST and Benyamen Nathanael, NCRST

 

Steering Committee Meeting (Closed Session)

17:30-20:00

Africa Caucus Meeting

Cocktail Dinner and Networking, Strand Hotel

 

23rd September

Site Visit & Excursion

 

 


Sessions

Session1: Integrated Decision Making

This session is looking at approaches that utilize data integration from multiple sources: EO, Citizen science, Indigenous Knowledge, Socio economic in addressing some of the most complex societal problems such as the 3 planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution).

Outcomes

  1. Value proposition for integration solution.
  2. Enhance cross sector collaboration.

Session2: Namibia development challenges and solutions offered

This is a session focused on highlighting challenges experienced by the host country and the solutions offered by different partners in addressing those. The partners can be from a wide scope: national, regional or Global but working with entities (institutions in Namibia).

Outcomes

  1. Gaps and Opportunities for engagement in Namibia magnified.

Session3: EO for Grassroot service delivery

This session looks at service providers that support end to end value chain solutions linking EO to the end user, and particularly, the end user who may not necessarily understand EO but can derive vital and reliable information from it to enhance their likelihoods, access to markets, make better decisions around investment and become more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Outcomes

  1. Enhancing EO value chain.

Session4: Strengthening National Coordination

This session looks at advocating for countries to set up their national coordination mechanisms, building of cases from countries that already set up their structures to those that are in the process of doing that and those that may be enticed to start. The National GEO’s being seen as critical vessels to support open science open knowledge, and in enhancing data and knowledge sharing while at the same time supporting the implementation of National agendas aligned to the GEO post 2025 strategy.

Outcomes

  1. Data democratization.
  2. Reduced duplication.
  3. Strengthened collaborations.

Session5: Youth session

With the SSA having a significant part of its population, young and vibrant but also with so many wasted opportunities, targeting this population to drive EO is critical to transformational impact. This session shall be utilized to enhance challenges faced by the youth in engaging in EO dialogues, the ways in which they are engaging and how they can be utilized to be part of the solution going forward..

Outcomes

  1. Youth inclusion in EO value chains.
  2. Opportunies for youth engagement and mentorship.

Session6: Nature based solutions

This session shall be focused on addressing the ways in which EO is utilized to support conservation, restoration efforts through ecosystem-based approaches to mitigation and adaptation.

Outcomes

  1. Sustainable restoration of our environment.
  2. Conservation and reduction of bio-diversity loss.
  3. Scalability of solutions.

Session7: Data & Infrastructure

This session shall look at existing infrastructure, barriers to data sharing, best case scenarios of data access, and where we need to be going as Africa.

Outcomes

  1. Data democratization.
  2. Data access and sharing policies and frameworks.
  3. Increased discoverability of existing EO content and connecting the geospatial community.

Session8: Strengthening Human Capital in Africa

This session has one keynote session on a successful capacity building regional program, and a panel offering different perspectives on how they are addressing capacity building, the barriers to capacity retention and use and how these can be addressed at regional and national scales.

Outcomes

  1. Strengthening human capital by programs (Regional and National).
  2. Best approach to capacity development.

Session9: Awareness Podium

This session is designed for partners to create awareness of their services, data, tools, cutting edge technology by linking public and private sectors practitioners.

Outcomes

  1. Awareness.
  2. Strengthened Collaborations.

Session10: GMES & Africa in the heart of the game

This session aims to illuminate the transformative power of the GMES & Africa program. It unveils how African experts, in collaboration with European partners, harness Earth Observation data to create operational information services that drive sustainable resource management and climate resilience. Furthermore, it informs attendees about the program's dynamic offerings, encompassing EO-based technology and capacity building, and how these align with the specific needs of the African continent.

Outcomes

  1. Heightened Awareness: Gain insights into the breadth of GMES & Africa's operational services, fostering a deeper understanding of their potential.
  2. Evolving Needs: Stimulate new demands for GMES & Africa services by showcasing their relevance to resource management and climate adaptation.
  3. Collaborative Synergies: Explore partnership possibilities with relevant programs, amplifying the impact of GMES & Africa across Africa.