THE Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, is collaborating with the National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, of Nigeria in the development of space technology and research in the region.

As part of this partnership, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the president of the ECOWAS Commission, paid a visit to the NASRDA Headquarters on Monday in Abuja.

Speaking during the visit Brou highlighted the importance of space science and technology to the development of the ECOWAS as a region.

“Indeed, ECOWAS considers Space Science to be a unique opportunity for regional a cooperation, infrastructure and data sharing,” he said, adding that it plays important role in risk reduction and disaster management such as droughts, floods and in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

A statement by the Commission said that Brou commended the management of NASRDA on the good work they are doing, saying that there was need to harmonise policies on space technology, as they will immensely improve the quality of lives of Community citizens.

In his remarks, Ogbonnaya Onu, the minister of Science and Technology of Nigeria, expressed the need for the region to use science, technology and innovation to develop its enormous resources in order to improve and develop the region.

He added that science and technology would bridge the development gap, if embraced.

S. O. Mohammed, the director general of NASRDA, said in his presentation on the programmes and achievements of the Agency, that ECOWAS and NASRDA needed to work together to develop space technology in the region and harmonise its policies.

The statement noted that ECOWAS and NASRDA signed an MoU in 2017, which resulted in the formulation of the ECOWAS Strategy on Space Sciences and Geomatics. The Third Meeting of ECOWAS Ministers in charge of Science and Technology in Cotonou adopted this Strategy in December 2018.

It added that at the end of the visit, the ECOWAS delegation was taken on a facility tour of the Agency, where they saw the Earth Observation Ground Receiving Station, the Space Technology Centre and the National Space Museum.

May 21, 2019 @ 18:19 pm GMT|