Building capacity in the basic space sciences in Southern Africa: Experiences and prospects

The basic space sciences and their supporting technologies underpin the ability of a country to utilise space applications programmes for development. By whatever measure is employed, Africa is under-represented in the international space science community. This paper reviews lessons learnt over the past 8 years with regard to sustainable capacity building in the region. At present there are a number of role-players in the space arena engaged in various capacity-building initiatives. We advocate that the emphasis of these initiatives should shift from fairly isolated capacity-building activities to comprehensive regional capacity-building programmes developed jointly by the different role-players. In order to develop such coordinated programmes, the establishment of a capacity-building forum involving the space community, the development sector and the developing countries in a region, is proposed.