18 African Countries Are Building Their Own Space Programmes to Cut Western Reliance

Africa is making headway into the space race with 18 countries now having their own satellites (Credit: Miriam Espacio/Pexels)

African nations are reaching for the stars without depending too much on Western countries—at least, that's the goal for the near future. Eighteen African countries have now built satellites, so they can compete in the ongoing space activities dominated by the US and China.

According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 21 satellites are running dedicated space programs within the continent. Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria and Morocco are said to be leading the pack in terms of satellite infrastructure and technology.