By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Tanzania has expressed
interest in joining Angola’s ANGOSAT-2 satellite services to strengthen
connectivity and explore space-based technological solutions for key sectors of
its economy, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between
the two countries.
The agreement, signed in Dar
es Salaam, aims to strengthen bilateral cooperation in telecommunications and
information and communication technologies (ICT), while laying the foundations
for expanded collaboration in space technologies and applications through the
exchange of knowledge, technology and experience.
The legal instrument was
signed during the state visit of Angolan President João Lourenço to Tanzania,
where several cooperation agreements in strategic sectors were formalised.
Angola’s Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social
Communication, Mário Oliveira, was part of the delegation accompanying the
President.
In the space domain,
Tanzania is interested in working with Angola to access ANGOSAT-2 services to
strengthen its connectivity offering and learn about and adopt technological
solutions developed under the Angolan National Space Programme.
Areas of interest include
space applications for the mining and agricultural sectors, infrastructure
management and logistics centres, as well as other solutions that use Earth
observation and geospatial intelligence to support economic activity and decision-making.
Speaking about the
cooperation, Minister Mário Oliveira highlighted that Angola has experience and
solutions it can share with Tanzania, particularly in connectivity through the
Conecta Angola programme, which promotes the expansion of internet access using
the capacity of ANGOSAT-2.
The minister also recalled
that a Tanzanian technical delegation visited Angola a few months ago, where it
worked with specialists from the National Space Programme Management Office
(GGPEN) to learn about the country’s capabilities and solutions.
The MoU builds on the
technical and institutional engagement between the two countries, creating
further opportunities for knowledge-sharing and the application of space
technologies across different sectors of the Tanzanian economy.
