1. Session 8: Private Sector Engagement Towards Enhanced Engagement of EO Private Sector in Africa Erick Khamala Managing Director LocateIT Ltd, Nairobi, Kenya

2. Who we are

3. What we offer: Earth Observation products & services
GIS products & services
Positioning and navigation products & services
Integrated Geo-ICT solutions
Environmental and developmental modeling services
(Climate change, REDD+, Land degradation, Suitability modelling for socio-economic planning & development,
LULC change mapping & prediction, Early warning systems for food security & disasters, Monitoring & Evaluation services, etc)

4. The 3is FrameworkTM Information Initiatives Impacts
The 3is Framework is a Trade Mark of LocateIT Limited 4
of 20

5. Our Valuable Partners And we are still reaching out for
more strategic partnerships

6. Some key global statistics ........

10. Revenue Trend
2001
2014
60.5%
28.7%
7.8%
2.9%

11. Status, Capacities, Opportunities and
Challenges of EO Private Sector in Africa

12. Status Capacities Opportunities Challenges
Awareness of importance of EO growing albeit very slowly
Fewer EO companies than GIS companies in Africa
EO companies growing in number in Africa
Increasing RS courses in African academic and professional training institutions
Increasing subsidiaries of established western / eastern EO companies in Africa
Horizon of EO and GI products & services expanding to new frontiers / non-traditional users
Capacities
Existence of national & regional EO institutions
Existence of key EO installations (receiving stations, etc)
Fairly good capacities in sale of satellite imagery and software
More services in high resolution than low resolution satellite imagery
More services in optical than SAR imagery
More services in multi-spectral than hyperspectral imagery
Opportunities
African space policy and national space policies
Growing awareness on EO by Govts, etc
Increasing number of free imagery
Availability of open source RS software
Increasingly affordable hardware (computers, antennas)
Increasing pool of EO graduates and practitioners
Enabling technologies (access to Internet, enhanced bandwidth, cloud computing, IoT)
Increased interest by EO companies outside Africa
Onset of enabling policies for engagement of EO private sector (e.g GMES & Africa)
Increasing funding mechanisms for EO private sector (innovation competitions, etc)
Presence of capacity building programs / projects (SERVIR, MESA / GMES & Africa)
Broadened applications scope & frontiers and client base (mobile devices, UAVs & UUVs, etc)
The Galileo Open Service that targets mass market in motor vehicle navigation and location-based mobile telephone services
SDGs, international conventions, etc that can leverage on EO
Challenges
Lack of relevant policies and attendant strategies in many African countries (ICT, GI, Space, data sharing, etc)
Inadequate awareness on the importance of EO in planning and development
Lack of adequate budgeting for EO by governments and other users
Non-engagement of African players in global EO initiatives (global land cover maps, etc)
Lack of ancillary courses for EO in academic & professional training institutions (business development, etc)
Lack of national and regional strategies for comprehensive use of EO to address local priorities
Lack of a strong network of African EO companies
Lack of dedicated regular awareness creation programs for policy/decision makers and traditional & non-traditional EO users
Lack of a good communication strategy for EO to policy/decision makers and end-users

13. Way Forward for EO Private Sector
in Africa

14. Need for formation of a strong network of African EO companies:
A group of African EO companies led by LocateIT and GeoSAS are
forming the African Association of Remote Sensing Companies (AARSC)
Full members must be EO companies registered in an African country
Associate members will be other EO players in Africa
AARSC Secretariat will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
AARSC shall:
Be the umbrella non-profit entity for African EO companies that will
promote EO entrepreneurship
foster growth of EO private sector and entrepreneurship in Africa
foster Public Private Partnerships (PPP); intra and inter continental
partnerships; and cross-sectoral business-to-business partnerships
engage with AfriGEOSS/GEO, EARSC, among other such entities
promoting EO private sector
etc

15. What we must do with EO in pursuit of the Africa we want
CONCLUSION:
What we must do with EO in
pursuit of the Africa we want

16. (and national space policies and strategies)
Determine the most strategic, well-prioritized, sustainable pathways for successful actualization of the African Space Policy and Strategy
(and national space policies and strategies)
Introduce EO at lower levels of our education system (EO
clubs, EO competitions e.g essays & posters, EO curricula, etc)
Come up with a comprehensive short, medium and long term EO
communications strategy targeting traditional and non-traditional
users that adequately demonstrates tangible societal benefits of EO
Support creation of networks of excellence (global, intra-African, south-south, north-south, inter-sectoral, etc) (e.g AARSC)
Grow the African EO private sector (especially SMEs) that will:
create wealth and employment
spur innovation and entrepreneurship
work with African governments (generally governments tend to trust local
players more)
become local partners for international EO companies keen to build
partnerships including Public Private Partnerships.

17. RECOMMENDATIONS TO
GEO / AfriGEOSS

18. 1. Engage with Eutelsat / DSTv to promote EO to young students
(14 – 19 year olds) in Africa
2. Establishing networks of excellence:
Develop a framework that will guide engagement of local
players in global EO and EO related initiatives / programs
(eg global Land Cover mapping programs)
Develop a framework that will guarantee translation of EO services to desired impacts (at policy/decision-making and
other end-user levels)
Develop a framework that will guide engagement of EO
private sector players in Africa and other regions with
similar challenges

19. Thank you