President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt and Kenya’s President, William Ruto, reaffirmed the strong ties between the two countries by signing a Joint Declaration for a Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership.
As part of this strengthened cooperation, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi signed a Memorandum of Understanding MoU between the Egyptian Space Agency EgSA and the Kenya Space Agency KSA, focused on collaboration in space exploration and the peaceful use of outer space.
The agreements were formalised during a ceremony on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, where both leaders oversaw signing multiple memorandums of understanding to enhance bilateral cooperation across various sectors.
The signing of the cooperation agreements comes after Dr Sherif Sedky, CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency, welcomed a high-level delegation led by Brigadier Hillary Kipkosgei, CEO of the Kenya Space Agency, on an official visit.
The visit aimed to enhance the strategic partnership between the two agencies while contributing to the growth of the African space agenda. Furthermore, in a meeting with senior management officials, discussions centred on enhancing cooperation in satellite technology and its localisation and human capacity building.
This follows up on the participation of a few Kenyan space professionals in the recently concluded ‘Fourth African Space Technology Basic Training Programme’ hosted by EgSA in January 2025.
Following the meeting, Brigadier Hillary and the accompanying delegation took a tour of the EgSA’s centres and facilities.
These included the Assembly, Integration and Testing Facility AIT, the Space Mission Control Centre and the MisrSat-2 satellite image reception lab.
Furthermore, the CEO of KSA affirmed his support for Egypt’s effort to promote African cooperation in space, particularly in joint satellite launches.
Kenya and Egypt have ongoing space collaboration projects, including the development of the African Development Satellite Af-Dev Sat, the ClimCam project under the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs UNOOSA0 Bartholomew programme and several capacity-building initiatives.
The continued partnerships foster stronger diplomatic and economic ties, aligning with the African Space Strategy, which will strategically position Africa as a frontrunner in the space race.
Source: https://spaceinafrica.com/2025/01/30/egypt-and-kenya-sign-an-mou-to-boost-space-cooperation/
