Space in Africa has released the NewSpace Africa Conference Impact Report, the first comprehensive account of the conference's five-year contribution to the development of the African space and satellite industry, covering the conference’s evolution from 2022 to 2026 and its growing role in shaping conversations, partnerships and opportunities.
Over five editions, the conference has grown from 100 delegates from 30 countries in Nairobi in 2022 to nearly 700 delegates from 73 countries across 5 continents in Libreville in 2026, bringing together a total of 2,300 participants, 782 organisations spanning government, commercial, academic, and institutional sectors, and representatives from 98 countries. Approximately 51% of all attendees have been African stakeholders, reflecting the conference’s focus on creating a platform anchored in African priorities while connecting the continent to global partners.
The impact report is structured across six key areas: Policy Impact, Partner Engagement, the NewSpace Ecosystem, International Cooperation, the African Talent Pipeline, and the Future of the NewSpace Africa Conference. It provides insight into how the conference has evolved alongside Africa’s space industry and the opportunities ahead.
The report highlights the conference’s role as a convening platform for African and international space leadership, catalysing institutional milestones that have defined African space governance over the past five years. Some of these major milestones include the inauguration of the African Space Council in Luanda in 2024 and the official inauguration of the African Space Agency headquarters in Cairo in 2025, marking the most consequential moment in African space institutional development in a generation. In the same week, the Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme was formally launched at the conference, backed by a EUR 100 million EU commitment implemented by the African Union Commission, the African Space Agency, and the European Space Agency.
“Five years ago, we created the NewSpace Africa Conference to address a simple need: a platform where the people building, regulating, investing in, and shaping Africa’s space ecosystem could meet in the same room,” said Dr Temidayo Oniosun, Managing Director of Space in Africa and Convener of the NewSpace Africa Conference. “Today, the conference has grown beyond an annual gathering. It has become a space where important conversations happen, partnerships are formed, and decisions that influence the future of Africa’s space economy are shaped.”
Beyond dialogue, the conference has facilitated tangible ecosystem outcomes. The report documents the conference's growing role as a platform for commercial engagement and business development. Thirty-five organisations have partnered with the conference across two to five consecutive editions, resulting in the formalisation of 16 partnerships and eight programme launches between organisations that met or deepened their relationships at the event. In 2026, the conference attracted a high-level audience, with more than 56% of delegates holding senior positions within their organisations, reinforcing its role as a platform for strategic engagement among decision-makers across government, industry, and investment communities.
The report traces the conference’s journey across Africa’s regions, beginning in East Africa with Nairobi, Kenya in 2022, moving to West Africa (Côte d’Ivoire, 2023), Southern Africa (Angola, 2024), North Africa (Egypt, 2025), and Central Africa (Gabon, 2026). Each edition has been delivered in partnership with the host country’s national space agency or relevant government institution, strengthening the conference’s role as a platform rooted in the priorities and ambitions of Africa’s space ecosystem.
According to H.E. Dr Tidiane Ouattara, President of the Council of the African Space Agency, “The growth of the NewSpace Africa Conference reflects the growing maturity and ambition of Africa’s space ecosystem. Over the past five years, it has become an important platform where governments, industry leaders, investors and partners come together to exchange ideas, build partnerships, and address the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of space in Africa. As we continue to advance continental cooperation through the African Space Agency, platforms that strengthen dialogue and collaboration will remain essential to unlocking the full value of space for Africa’s development.”
As the conference prepares for its next edition in Dakar, Senegal, in 2027, Space in Africa continues its commitment to building platforms that connect African ambitions with global expertise, investment and partnerships.
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