Abuja: Since 2007, there has been a growing interest in monitoring space weather by a few regional space agencies under the aegis of United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and its partners. The UNOOSA partners’ initiatives have also raised the need for infrastructure, funding, and human capital development.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, some of the progress recorded so far includes the establishment of research centres, citing modelling equipment in the centres, and raising awareness about space weather’s unique impacts on the continent that lies across the equatorial region. Space agencies such as the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) are among the foremost space agencies established with centres to monitor space weather.
Programmes like the Unique African Ionospheric Science, Ground-Based Observation Networks like GPS receivers, magnetometers, and a Fabry-Perot interferometer were deployed by Nigeria, while advanced modelling such as the AFriTEC Ionospheric Model is among facilities in place to monitor space weather. For sustained capacity building and widening the scope of space weather monitoring, UNOOSA and Nigeria held a one-week workshop from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10 on the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI).
The event was organised by Nigeria’s National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) and focused on ‘Space Weather During a Moderate Solar Cycle 25’. It had participation from over 20 countries, including France, Germany, Japan, C´te d’Ivoire, South Africa, Brazil, India, and Indonesia, as well as officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Experts say space weather during a moderate solar cycle signifies a period of relatively low, though not minimal, solar activities.
Ms. Sharafat Gadimova from UNOOSA, Austria, said developing capabilities in space weather was one of many space activities UNOOSA supported member states to achieve. Gadimova reaffirmed the office’s commitment to strengthening Africa’s capacity in space weather observation, data sharing, and satellite-based forecasting through collaborative programmes and partnerships.
She noted that UNOOSA, through the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG), had been supporting regional centres for space science and technology education in Africa, particularly the UN-affiliated ones in Nigeria and Morocco. ‘These centres, such as the African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (ARCSSTE-E) in Ile-Ife, play a vital role in connecting institutions involved in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and space weather studies with international partners.’
According to her, the centres serve as information hubs for ICG activities and coordinate closely with GNSS providers to strengthen data exchange, technical collaboration, and research capacity across Africa. She explained that one of the major recent efforts was an international GNSS workshop jointly organised in August 2024 by ARCSSTE-E and the National Time Service Centre of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Ms Christine Amory, a French physicist and coordinator of the space weather training initiative, said the programme, unveiled in 2009, had expanded to 21 African countries and focuses on studies around the sun to the magnetosphere, providing tools from countries including Germany and France to train African scientists and students. Amory highlighted that the initiative had produced several high-level scientific publications and fostered strong collaboration between African, European, and Asian researchers.
Prof. Babatunde Rabiu, a Space Physicist at NASRDA, described the ISWI as a strong global network of scientists and instruments monitoring space weather since its inception in 2009. ‘The initiative now comprises over 1,000 instruments and more than 100 arrays deployed worldwide and has significantly increased Africa’s research visibility and output, strengthened international collaboration, and supported the development of tools and software for monitoring space weather,’ he said.
Prof. Olivier Obrou, a space scientist from the University of C´te d’Ivoire, emphasised that Africa’s growth in space science depended on training and education. ‘The key issue is training human resources. If you do not have trained scientists, you cannot manage or maintain space technology,’ he said.
Experts at the workshop agreed that collaboration, capacity building, and consistent data collection were key to advancing Africa’s role in global space weather monitoring. They called on African governments and developing countries to provide sustained support for education, equipment, and research as space weather affects critical sectors such as aviation, defence, communication, and finance.