aeossummary 2016 vf 140616

A Survey into the AfricanPrivate Sector in EarthObservation andGeospatial Fields

Prepared by

African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE) and

European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC)

May 201 6

201 6

2African eoSERVICES industry © AARSE & EARSC

1 . Foreword

2. Strategic Context

3. Industrial Landscape

4. Employment

5. Revenues

6. Activities

7. Thematic areas

8. EO Data

9. Strategic Issues

1 0. Copernicus andGMES & Africa

1 1 . The Future

[Glossary]

Foreword

I t is with great pleasure that we bring you the results of the AARSE/ EARSC survey of the African EO services

I ndustry.

General inventories of organisations involved in remote sensing applications are available for some countries

in sub-Saharan Africa. A survey targeting the African private sector involved in EO and geospatial sciences

specifical ly, however, was never done before. The current survey is the first of its kind on the continent and a

beginning to understand how companies in Africa operate, capture their expertise and assess their state and

health.

We are very grateful to al l the companies that have spent their time responding to our questions.

This brochure is a summary of the survey findings and our analysis.

The survey covers the private EO services industry across Africa which we have defined as any company sel l ing

products or services which contain some data coming from EO satel l ites. The EO industry comprises satel l ite

operators, data suppliers, value-adding companies or geo-information (GI) companies using derived products

where the satel l ite data are not always visible.

The survey was conducted between February and April 201 6. A total of 229 companies were contacted with

useful responses coming from 78 of them via an on-l ine questionnaire. These respondent companies

represent 21 out of 54 countries in Africa. The bil ingual questionnaire (Engl ish and French) was focused on

basic company information, numerical data and estimates as wel l as some issues of strategic relevance.

The number of questions was kept to a reasonable range to avoid saturating responders.

The results show an industry in development. There has been growth in revenues in the past few years,

accompanied by a good growth of employment in the sector. We find an optimistic outlook, albeit cautious,

on the near future.

The sector has seen a lot of change in recent years, e. g. the launch of a number of new commercial satel l ite

systems as wel l as significant technology change with the development of Google Earth and the advent of

cloud computing. These and other technologies such as Remotely Piloted Aircraft systems are arriving on the

horizon and maybe there are other technologies which wil l emerge in the near future.

The first of the European Copernicus Sentinel satel l ites have been launched heralding the arrival of vast

amounts of new data with ful l , free and open access.

Also in the political arena, major developments took place such as the adoption of the African Space Pol icy

and Strategy, and the Global Monitoring for Environment & Security and Africa initiative, GMES & Africa in

short, that promises to del iver new services for African pol icy makers and may offer new opportunities for the

African EO industry.

We plan to revisit the industry facts and figures in 201 8 to assess the impact that these factors may have had

on the African EO services industry and to map the growth and trends that are shaping it.

I n the meantime, the results for 201 6 fol low which we hope you wil l find interesting, stimulating and helpful in

your ventures.

78 companies 21 countries1 41 7 employees

This report has been prepared by AARSE and EARSC fol lowing a study into the African companies funded by

European Commission (Directorate-General for I nternal Market, I ndustry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs - DG

GROW). We wish to thank the European Commission and Spacetec Partners for their support to this work. The

views in this document are those of AARSE and EARSC and are not necessarily approved or endorsed by the

European Commission..

Front cover picture: Central Algeria captured by Copernicus, Copernicus Sentinel data (201 5)/ESA

Text, charts and layout: AARSE & EARSC

http://earsc.org/

http://www.africanremotesensing.org/

3 African eoSERVICES industry © AARSE & EARSC

Strategic context

The years from 2000 to the present are crucial for the development of EO in Africa. Advancements in

I nformation Systems/I nformation Technology (IS/IT) have made it possible to access information that was once

unthinkable to acquire. A huge amount of geographical data was made available, attributable to the growing

of a number of related public and private institutions in many parts of the continent.

Several technological innovations have contributed to this:

With technological advancement on the continent being steady, a growing EO market, an increasing EO user

community, a breed of enterprising remote sensing experts and a dynamic science network (that AARSE has

helped to foster) can be seen.

I t was bel ieved that these developments have created space and impetus for the growth of the African private

EO sector.

I n this context, AARSE, at its Executive Council meeting in October 201 4, had decided to conduct an Africa-

wide systematic survey of private sector companies engaged in EO and geospatial information sciences, in

order to

- Compile an inventory of existing African companies

- Gather knowledge on employment creation and markets

- Gain more knowledge of the sector in the l ight of new programmes and initiatives

- Facil itate associated representation of the private sector.

This tied in very well with the activities concurrently undertaken by EARSC to expand the international scope of

its EO industry survey to Africa.

I n the policy context of the EU-Africa cooperation in space science and technology and the European EO

Programme Copernicus, the implementation of the GMES & Africa initiative cal ls for the application of

approaches developed in Copernicus, notably by adopting a free and open data pol icy, by focusing on

operational services and by involving the private sector in the services development.

AARSE and EARSC have closely cooperated in conducting this survey and presenting its results, and wil l strive

to facil itate connectivity by identifying potential areas of cooperation between African and European EO

companies thus creating the synergy that is cal led for.

The increase in spectral and spatial resolution of data del ivered by newly developed earth orbiting

sensors in Europe, the US and other countries provides more cost-effective access to framework

data and mapping bases.

I ncreased affordabil ity of personal computers and microelectronic equipment as wel l as tele-

communication services giving access to the internet at least in some parts of Africa, have paved

and are paving the way for an avalanche of information in Africa - for scientific research, for

broader society, and for planning and policy purposes.

Google Earth.

A number of EO and geospatial-specific programs coming from the US, Europe, Japan and other

major EO players have stimulated needs for proactive capacity development in EO and geospatial

technologies in Africa.

I n the last 1 0 years, four African countries (Algeria, Egypt, N igeria and South Africa) have built mini-

satel l ites, moving the continent out of the class of being ‘sensed’ to ‘sensing’. At the same time, a

continent-wide, EO infrastructure has been developed. Across Africa there are now more than

twenty national space agencies (also referred to as national remote sensing agencies), as wel l as

regional centres and over 45 universities dedicated to building expertise in EO technologies.

•

•

•

•

•

"With technologicaladvancement onthe continent beingsteady, a growingEO market, anincreasing EO usercommunity, a breedof enterprisingremote sensingexperts and adynamic sciencenetwork can beseen."


Number of companies contacted – number of companies that responded

The chart below shows the countries from which company responses were received.

Geographical distribution of respondent companies

Around 50% of responses is coming from four countries, namely South Africa, Kenya, N igeria and Ethiopia.

The study team assumes the fol lowing reasons could have played a role for the establ ishment of private

companies in these countries:

When grouped according to regions it can be seen that West Africa is most strongly represented, fol lowed by

East and Southern Africa.

Industrial landscape

"Looking at theformation of new

companies overthe last 25 years

and theirdevelopment, we

are pleased tonote that the

African privatesector has grown

continuously. "

The survey questionnaire was sent to 229 companies, representing 28 out of 54 countries in Africa. We

did receive 78 responses, representing 21 countries.

Thriving of private sector is encouraged at government level.

A rapidly increasing EO user community, and a new breed of remote sensing experts trained

local ly and abroad, who see opportunities for going private.

Local presence of several UN-bodies, international service providing organisations such as

ESRI , EO related international companies (e.g., in photogrammetry, remote sensing, image

processing, etc.) including foreign based hardware and software firms partnering or using

the services of local expertise to expand in the African market; and

Capacity building centres and facil ities of which private companies can make use.

•

•

•

•

Number of companies per African sub-region


Looking at the formation of new companies over

the last 25 years and their development, the study

team is pleased to note that the African private

sector has grown continuously. The fal l away in

the last 2 to 3 years may most l ikely be attributed

to the fact that the new companies have not yet

become visible and should not be considered as

evidence that growth has slowed.

Number of companies formed per year

Particularly, up from the early 1 990s the private

industry has been picking up. I ncorporation of

new companies is strongest in the last 1 5 years.

Development of private sector companies

Over 90 % of companies are privately owned

supporting the view, coupled with the large

proportion of smal l and microenterprises, that

these are start-ups in a sector that is relatively new

and immature.

Company ownership

The survey was extended to a number of

companies that are assumed to be larger

companies with subsidiaries in an African country.

However, none but one of these responded to the

questionnaire.

96 % of responding companies (75 out of 78)

confirmed that they work with EO / satel l ite data

or derived products. Our definition included

acquisition of remote sensing data, maintenance

and archiving, dissemination and distribution,

analysis and interpretation, integration of

interpreted data with other spatial data and

models, as wel l as training in al l of these aspects.

The study team believes that the picture given

above is representative for the current African EO

services industry. Yet, we have identified a much

larger number of companies and are keeping

respective contacts in our database, particularly in

East Africa, South Africa and N igeria. I n the

absence of responses we have no means though,

to establ ish whether these companies exist, have

been renamed or merged with fel low companies

in the same country. Thus, no secured data are

available.

Our questionnaire had asked respondent

companies to provide contact details of other

companies that would qual ify for the survey. Very

few respondents headed that cal l – for whatever

reason -, but giving the overal l impression that the

sector is rather fragmented.

We should l ike to mention that despite several

channels used to publish the survey and stimulate

participation, responses from companies in

several countries were particularly hard to

mobil ize. This goes for Namibia and Mozambique

in Southern Africa, I vory Coast and Guinea in West

Africa as wel l as Egypt and the Maghreb.

Concerning the latter, we were unable to get any

response from companies in Algeria for example, a

country known to be a major player in space

technology in Africa.

We would further l ike to note that for several

countries we were unable to obtain company

contacts at al l , e. g. Angola, Democratic Republic

of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. I t could be

assumed however that there are local EO/

Geospatial services companies engaged in

business with large multi-national players in the

extractive industries in these countries. The study

team does know from personal experience that

African geologists and geophysicists are supplying

expert services to international players in the

mining sector (e. g. China, Japan, Russia and

Austral ia). However, no rel iable quantitative data

can be presented at this stage.

Last but not least, it needs to be taken into

account that several countries from which no

responses could be obtained, currently suffer from

political crises and confl ict situations not

conducive to any high-tech private business.

Number of companies per African sub-region


Employment

"More than a thirdof people employed

by respondingcompanies is

engaged in EOrelated activities as

defined above,namely 552 out of

the total of 1 41 7employees."

Taking out the anomalous 750 staff employed by

one publical ly traded company in our sample (but

doing rather l ittle EO business) one arrives at an

overal l number of 1 41 7 people employed in the

sector, representing an average of 1 8 employees

per company. The study team considers this as

representative and real istic. Broken down per

country the fol lowing picture is derived.

Employment per country

Companies in six countries, namely Morocco,

Kenya, South Africa, N igeria, Madagascar and

Botswana employ over 1 00 persons amounting to a

total of 961 employees (~68% of 1 41 7 total

employees). The responses received from the two

companies in Madagascar suggest however, that

these are private enterprises within a public

institution. The study team had no means to

ascertain whether the numbers accounted for in

this case are private or public employees. Looking

at the regional breakdown for employment and the

breakdown to EO related employees we get the

fol lowing detailed picture.

Table of the total no of employees, total EO related

employees and the number of surveyed companies per

region

EO related employees

More than a third of people employed by

responding companies is engaged in EO related

activities as defined above, namely 552 out of the

total of 1 41 7 employees. The average number per

company is 7 people

engaged in EO related

activities while the

average of total

employment per

company is 1 8 people.

Employment development in recent years

To get a feel for the continuity of business,

companies were asked to indicate whether the

number of EO related employees changed much ‘in

the last few years’. As shown in the chart below,

34 % of respondents indicate that the number of

their EO related employees stayed the same, 33 %

indicated it increased somewhat, and 20 % that

numbers increased significantly.

This seems to signal quite reassuringly that

companies have stayed in business for a number of

recent years; a third has been able to employ more

people during that time, and a fifth of companies

even managed to expand their EO related activities

by significantly increasing their staff.

Employment change

Employment optimism

When asked to give a forecast on the number of

their EO related employees over the next 1 2

months (201 6), the majority of al l respondent

companies expressed cautious optimism: around

53 % respondents expect a sl ight increase in their

number of EO related employees; 1 5 % of compa-

nies are even very optimistic about being able to

increase staff significantly. A quarter of respond-

ents (24 %) think staff numbers wil l stay the same.

Only 5 respondents out of 70 fear that they might

have to reduce staff in the coming months.

Employment expectations over next 1 2 months (201 6)

Overal l , these results suggest that the sector has

not only grown, but is l ikely to continue to grow in

the near future.


RevenuesTo get a feel for financial performance of the sector,

the study team had cautiously asked companies

about their revenues. As disclosing revenue figures

is a sensitive issue, companies were asked to only

summarily indicate the range of their last year's

revenue (i.e. 201 5 figures) from EO related services,

how revenues developed in recent years and what

trend they would expect in the near future (201 6).

As shown in the chart below, 56 % of al l companies

(70 answers) have performed in a band of up to $

1 00k in 201 5. 26 % of respondent companies

indicate a revenue band between $ 1 00 - $ 500k

and 1 1 % a band from $ 500k - $ 1 mil l ion. Only

around 7 % of companies had revenues in the band

of $1 m - $ 5m or above. These revenue figures

confirm the earl ier observation that the majority of

companies are rather smal l firms.

Revenue bands in 201 5

To get an overview of where the largest players in

the sector are located, a regional break down is

provided in the chart below.

Regional revenue bands from EO related business in 201 5

Revenue development in recent years

Responding on changes they had experienced in

their revenues in the “last few years”, 55 % of

companies claim that their revenues increased

somewhat, 1 8.57 % claim revenues increased by

more than 30 % and a percentage of 1 1 each said

that revenues stayed the same or decreased

somewhat. Around 8 % of respondents say that

their revenues have fal len by more than 30 %.

Revenue change

As with employment evolution, the study team also

sees from revenue developments that the industry

has steadily grown, with some companies having

done quite wel l in increasing their earnings in the

last few years.

Geographic origin of revenues

The fol lowing chart gives a picture from where,

geographical ly, revenues are obtained. Given that

most surveyed companies are micro-sized or smal l

enterprises it is not surprising that revenues accrue

primarily in companies’ home countries (countries

where they are legal ly registered). 75 % of

responding companies operate primarily on a

national level. Some 1 5 % of companies also real ise

income beyond national borders, i .e. in their sub-

regional neighbourhood. The number of

companies that have business on a continental

scale or receive revenues international ly, is

relatively smal l (around 1 0 %).

Geographic origin of revenues

Revenue Optimism

When asked about expectations of EO related

revenues over the next 1 2 months (201 6), the vast

majority of respondents turned out to be rather

optimistic - if not enthusiastic - about being able to

increase their revenues. 45 % of 69 respondents

expect a significant increase in their revenues and

42 % a sl ight increase. Only some 7 % (5 responses)

expect their revenues to stagnate. Around 5 % of

respondents (4 responses) fear their revenues to

sl ightly or significantly fal l over the next 1 2 months.

By and large, companies seem to be trusting in

continued growth both in revenues and

employment.

"Given that mostsurveyed companiesare micro-sized orsmal l enterprises itis not surprising thatrevenues accrueprimarily incompanies’ homecountry."


Activities

One principal purpose of the survey was, of course,

to find out what companies actual ly do, who their

customers are and in what segments of the market

they operate.

Companies were asked to indicate where the focus

of their EO related business is. Results show that EO

service companies in Africa are active right across

the value chain (i l lustrated) and the chart below

shows the relative size of each part of the value

chain.

Spread of EO related business

As shown in the chart on the left, the service type

of companies’ EO related business is clearly in

downstream/ GIS services (84 % of 70 responses).

75 % of responding companies also do

consultancy, that reflects studies and analyses

which are not value-added services and other

support activities; and 64 % of responding

companies provide value-adding services using

satel l ite data to create products.

37 % of companies resel l satel l ite or other data

from third party sources and 24 % do business in

hard or software. Only 1 0 % of responding

companies indicate to command space

infrastructure or to be satel l ite operators. I t is not

entirely clear to us at this stage what kind of space

infrastructure and/ or satel l ite operations are

referred to by these respondents.

5 % of companies (4 responses) receive and

distribute data, meaning they are owners or

operators of a ground station.

"The service type ofcompanies’ EO

related business isclearly in

downstream/ GISservices."

Services covered by the AARSE/ EARSC survey


Tying in with other observations from the survey

that companies primarily operate local ly and their

services are driven by local information needs, it

clearly emerges that the public sector is the

principal customer for respondent companies (53

out of 70 responses). But private companies are

also important cl ients (34 out of 70 responses). I t is

assumed that these private cl ients would probably

be mining companies, agricultural consortia, forest

plantations or construction companies (roads,

etc.) .

Only some 1 5% of respondents have cl ients in

international organisations and non-governmental

organisations (NGOs). As could be expected, publ ic

R&D sponsors and academic institutions only play

a very minor role for the business of private

companies.

Percentage of business per customer category

Capacity-bui lding activities

More than 88 % of respondents confirm to

regularly provide training. Only about 1 1 % (8

companies out of 70 responding) do no training.

Out of the 62 companies that carry out regular

training activities, 58 % of companies do so for

both company employees as wel l as potential

customers. 25 % of companies target potential

cl ients only, and 1 6 % company employees only.

The type of training that companies do is shown

on the chart on the next column. 85 % of

companies provide GIS training. This is not

surprising given that the main business activity of

surveyed companies is in downstream services.

But 62 % of respondents also do training in remote

sensing, 57 % in data integration as wel l as in

image processing, and 53 % in application

oriented interpretation. Training in model l ing is

done by 34 % of respondents.

21 % of training actions by respondent companies

concern other subjects. Among these are

photogrammetry; UAV training; geospatial web-

application development; geo-software

development, appl ications and interoperabil ity

training; spatial databases; GPS, hydrography; data

acquisition; numerical cartography; hydrography

and disaster risk management, as indicated in

comments by respondents.

Training subjects

Working relationships with other companies

To find out something about the network

companies would command, companies were

asked about their working relationship with other

companies – in Africa and elsewhere.

I t turned out that – if they work with other

companies – companies col laborate foremost with

other companies in African countries (other than

the country of the company’s location): 76 % of

respondents indicate to have working relations

with companies in other African countries. 64 % of

respondent companies seem to have working

relations with European companies and 47 % with

companies in North America (US, Canada).

A quarter of al l respondent companies has

working relationships also with Asian companies.

Not surprisingly, working relations with companies

in Austral ia and Latin America are mentioned by

very few companies in the survey sample

Business relations with other companies

Customers

1 0African eoSERVICES industry © AARSE & EARSC

Thematic areas

Companies were asked to indicate in which major

market segments they do business. Responses

from surveyed companies suggest that business is

primarily done in the three fol lowing segments of

the market:

• Local and regional planning

(66 % of respondents)

• Environmental, pol lution, cl imate (59 %)

• Agriculture (51 .43 %).

Other important segments comprise the Util ities

sector (water, electricity, waste), indicated by 37 %

of companies, the Mining sector (21 %), and

Transportation (1 5 %).

1 0 % of companies’ do business in Forestry, and in

the area of Humanitarian operations/ Health,

respectively. 8 % of companies have business in

Oil/ Gas; 7 % of respondents in the security sector.

Very few companies (4 responses) in the sample do

business in more special areas l ike Maritime

monitoring or Fisheries. Six respondents (8 %)

choose “other”, but did not elaborate (see chart on

the right).

The picture of market shares above ties in with

findings on the cl ients of responding companies.

They mainly service information needs for planning

purposes and util ities provision, and for

environmental monitoring and agricultural

development.

"The most highlycited is local and

regional planningfol lowed by

Environmental,pol lution, cl imate

and agriculture."

Relevant market segments

Major market segments where responding companies do business.

The horizontal axis (x), reflects the five regions of Africa while the vertical axis corresponds to the

total number of responding companies

1 1 African eoSERVICES industry © AARSE & EARSC

Given that the survey was conducted in the context

of the European EO Programme Copernicus and

the policy on free and open Sentinel data, we

wanted to know which free satel l ite data sources

companies currently use, what data they buy and

how much money they have to spend on the

acquisition of commercial data.

As shown in the chart below, not surprisingly, 67 %

of al l respondents (70 companies) currently use

free Landsat data. 25 % of respondents currently

use Sentinels data while 40 % are using free data

from multiple sources. Comments on data from

multiple sources indicate, that besides Google,

companies use SPOT, SPOT VGT, ASTER, ASTER DM,

MODIS, SRTM and NOAA. 1 7 % of respondents are

not currently using any free data at al l .

Use of free satellite data

Asked whether they currently buy data from

commercial suppliers and from where, companies

responded as fol lows:

48 % of respondents do not currently buy data

from commercial suppliers at al l . 40 % do buy data,

namely from US as wel l as from European satel l ites.

Some 4 % (3 responses) buy data either from I ndian

satel l ites (IRS) or other operators. 3 respondents say

to buy data from African satel l ite operators (see

graph below).

Use of commercial satellite data

The latter suggests that African satel l ite data

currently do not play any significant role for private

business. As it turned out in answers to an

additional specific question on African Satel l ites,

namely the NIGERIASAT Family, ALSAT Family,

EGYPTSAT Family and SumbandilaSat, results

revealed that the vast majority of company

respondents do know these data suppliers (78 %).

However, 21 % of respondents, (that is 1 5 out of 70

respondent companies) are not aware that some

African nations have their own mini-satel l ites.

Those respondents that buy data from commercial

suppliers, were asked to provide rough figures for

the average annual amount they spend on satel l ite

data. The respective sample here is 38 companies.

As shown in the chart , 34 % of these companies

spend $ 20k on satel l ite data in average per year. 34

% of respondents spend $ 1 0k or less per year. 1 5 %

(6 responses) said they spend $ 50k, and the same

number of respondents said they spend even

$1 00k or more per year.

Annual expenditure on satellite data

As wil l be seen in the fol lowing section, cost of EO

data is perceived to be one of the most significant

barriers to growth of the industry by many

respondents.

Costs of data need to be reviewed as they were

prohibitive for the average user. Availabil ity and

accessibil ity of free data was regarded as the one

factor that could strengthen business in the sector.

Looking at the data used by companies and the

segments in which they do business, it is concluded

that they are talking of high resolution datasets.

Besides, data qual ity and standards for each end

use application was also mentioned as a critical

issue.

EO Data

"48 % ofrespondents do notcurrently buy datafrom commercialsuppliers at al l ."


To understand how the African private EO industry

is currently doing, respondents’ views on obstacles

to growth and on chal lenges faced, were sol icited.

As shown in the chart below, a majority of

respondents (70 answers) perceive the fol lowing

three issues to be the most significant barriers to

growth:

• Customers recognise benefits but lack budget

(by 80%)

• Lack of development funding (by 65%)

• Cost of EO data (by 58%).

Contract compliance and contract acquisition are

also severe problems noted by 50 and 44 % of

respondents respectively. 34% do not see that

there is enough market and user acceptance. 32%

see a problem in the lack of operational data

supply.

Comments given on the latter issue concern cost of

high resolution data impacting on both existing

and new customers; some EO data being too costly

for smal l developmental projects; existence of

companies monopolising access to EO data; data

piracy and insufficient data standards.

I n terms of governmental and private sector

support, the most severe factors hampering

growth are seen in:

• Unfavourable pol icy and legal provisions

(by 37%)

• Lack of development funding (by 65%)

• Lack of venture capital (by 65%).

The percentage citing unfavourable pol icy and

legal provisions is even greater in the French

speaking sample of respondents (47%). I t might be

assumed that public institutions in Francophone

Africa exert a heavier grip on the EO related

industry than in the somewhat more l iberal sub-

regions of Southern and Eastern Africa as wel l as in

N igeria.

This might tie in with the facts that a) the study

team was able to identify a comparatively higher

number of companies in Engl ish speaking

Southern and Eastern Africa as wel l as N igeria than

in West and North Africa, and that b) in general,

companies from the former regions more readily

responded to the survey questionnaire than those

from the North and West of Africa.

Overal l , companies’ valuation of problems

depending on policy and legal provisions is clearly

addressed to national African governments, sub-

regional African governing authorities and to the

AUC (such as heading on its commitments to the

implementation of the African Space Pol icy and

Strategy, involving the African private EO and

geospatial sector, GMES & Africa, etc.) .

I t was not specified what development funding

would exactly mean from the perspective of

respondent companies. We suppose it would

comprise both African R&D programs as wel l as

ODA funding by international entities, including

greater support from EC programmes.

Companies cite the lack of a stable revenue stream

as being a particular issue. The project-based

nature of the business today is certainly a key

factor. This may change in the future as a swing

away from bespoke products (project-based

contracts) to off-the-shelf products (service-based

contracts) develops.

Strategic issues

"Companies cite thelack of a stable

revenue stream asbeing a particularissue. The project-

based nature of thebusiness today is

certainly a keyfactor "

Barriers to Growth

Negative impacts on industry growth


Lack of venture capital seems to be a common

complaint both in Europe and in Africa. A stable

business environment with potential for growth is a

pre-requisite and this is questionable for different

reasons on both continents. One of the main

reasons is probably the highly technical nature of

the business where traditional investors are not

comfortable to provide capital. This is not the case

in the US where evidence can be seen of technical

savvy investors backing new often blue-skies

ventures. But this class of investor seems to be

missing in Europe and Africa and further effort wil l

be needed by both companies and governments

al ike to help free up investment capital.

One key step is for governments to acknowledge

their role as purchasers of services so providing an

underpinning market and revenue source for

companies. This is a key step which is complicated

by the presence of many government research

bodies which provide services to their

governments. After al l , in Africa it can be seen that

some 63% of revenues come from governments

which is a similar figure to that seen in Europe.

Governments are both customers for EO products

as wel l as seeking to sponsor the sector as a

perceived high-tech growth area.

Competition coming from other EO suppliers is

considered a threat to their own company’s growth

by 27 % of respondents. I n comments on this issue,

competition from government funded National

Space Agencies was pointed out as wel l as

competition from European companies,

particularly in connection with European-funded

projects in which companies from Europe were

given preference over those from Africa (‘

’) .

1 0% considered also competition from non-EO

sources. Here, losing business to surveying and

mapping companies was mentioned as an

example.

Lack of staff (1 4%) seems to be regarded as a minor

issue, suggesting that trained professional staff can

be found on the market. However, several

respondents did remark on a lack of staff with

special skil ls, sufficiently educated professionals

and l imited capacity in business management.

Trade Associations

On the assumption that there might be a need for

the African private sector to get better organised

and have its needs and interests better voiced and

heard, companies were asked about their opinion

on a trade association.

A majority of respondents (69 answers) expressed

interest in a trade association at national (58 %)

and/ or continental levels (60 %). I nterest for an

association at sub-regional level is a l ittle less (52

%), and some 7 % of respondents are not interested

at al l .

Collaboration with AARSE and EARSC

95 % of al l respondents expressed their interest in

engaging more closely with AARSE that is currently

the only Pan-African organisation representing the

EO and geospatial research and services

communities in Africa, as wel l as in closer

col laboration with European counterparts as

represented by EARSC.

Companies’ expectations from AARSE and EARSC

Responses on the question, what further steps

companies would l ike to see AARSE and EARSC take

for strengthening the EO industry in Africa and

facil itating col laboration, show in the chart below.

84 % of respondents suggested joint projects.

Training in topics such as project planning,

processing of data, etc. and more opportunities for

information exchange (such as conferences,

exhibitions, e. g. the biennial AARSE conference)

would be also highly welcome (73 % of

respondents). Almost the same number of

respondents would go for partnerships (71 %).

Several respondents gave detailed suggestions of

what would be useful, thereby giving AARSE and

EARSC more dedicated actions.

Company expectations from AARSE and EARSC

"One key step is forgovernments toacknowledge theirrole as purchasers ofservices soproviding anunderpinningmarket and revenuesource forcompanies."


Common research interests by the parties involved

in the present survey commanded to find out

whether African companies knew about

Copernicus, the satel l ite data already provided and

planned under the European Earth Observation

programme, and the Europe-Africa cooperation in

earth observation, namely the GMES & Africa

initiative. Survey findings reveal that:

Relevance of GMES & Africa services to companies’ current

business

Obviously companies consider those themes highly

relevant that somehow relate to the market

segments many of them operate in. This concerns

I nfrastructure & Territorial Development,

Management of Natural Resources, Food Security &

Rural Development, Water resources management

and I mpacts of Cl imate Variabil ity and Change.

However, also themes that are not reflected in

companies’ business in other responses are

considered relevant such as Disaster Risk Reduction

and Health Management.

I t is assumed that companies might merely find

many of the envisaged themes in the GMES & Africa

initiative interesting; and/ or consider them

important aspects in the development of Africa in

general ; and/ or hope to expand their business

activities into other fields expecting to partake in

the GMES & Africa initiative.

I n summary, a clear message can be derived from

the findings above, namely that Copernicus and its

Sentinels programme as well as the GMES & Africa

initiative are not too well known across the African

private sector. Action seems to be needed to

achieve greater awareness and better involve the

private sector.

As one of the global players in space, the European

Commission would have to strengthen its outreach

and dissemination efforts on Copernicus services

and Sentinel data.

There seems to be a particular need for the African

Union Commission to assume its coordinating role

and to better inform the African private sector

about major pol itical developments on the

continent, namely the African Space Pol icy &

Strategy and major initiatives such as GMES &

Africa.

GEO and AfriGEOSS

Concerning global efforts by the Group on Earth

Observations (GEO) and more particularly, the

African initiative of AfriGEOSS aiming at the

enhancement of Africa's capacity for producing,

managing and using Earth observations, company

answers give a clear picture:

70 % of responding companies are not aware of

GEO or AfriGEOSS. Not even one third of

respondents seem to have heard about these

endeavours.

Apparently GEO/ AfriGEOSS is not understood by

the African private sector. I t is suspected that

companies might assume that AfriGEOSS is mostly

about pol icy issues, even if they know about these

initiatives. Thus, there seems to be a need for

AfriGEOSS to step up activities to better inform the

private sector about AfriGEOSS’ coordinating role

and demonstrate what companies could gain from

it. Likewise, it would be a matter of private

companies to demand information and express

their needs for enabl ing pol icies.

Copernicus and

GMES & Africa

"Copernicus and itsSentinels

programme as wellas the GMES & Africainitiative are not too

well known acrossthe African private

sector. Action seemsto be needed toachieve greaterawareness and

better involve theprivate sector."

51 % of respondent companies indicate to have

never heard about Copernicus.

58 % of al l respondents (70 companies) are not

aware that data from the European Sentinel

satel l ites are free and open. 38 % are aware and

plan to use Sentinels data. 2 respondents claim to

be aware but have no plans to use these data.

67 % of al l respondents indicated that they are not

aware of GMES & Africa. Only a rough third of al l

respondents seems to know about this initiative of

Europe-Africa cooperation in earth observation.

However, companies show great interest in the

envisaged services of the initiative. Six thematic

areas of GMES & Africa are considered relevant for

their current business by more than 50% of

respondents. This ties in with the market segments

companies are primarily operating in. The

spectrum of responses is given in the chart below.

•

•

•

•

•


Copernicus and

GMES & Africa

The future

Glossary

I n conclusion, we assess work done with this survey and outl ine plans for fol low up. This industry survey has

provided a rich source of data on the Earth Observation services industry in Southern, West, East and North

Africa which has been used to generate the analysis and the charts in this brochure. I t is also anticipated that

the dataset wil l serve to support further analysis against more specific questions which may be posed and to

support industry facts and figures in the future.

AARSE and EARSC wish to use this survey as the start of a regular analysis of the African EO industry with a

target to generate a report once every 2 years to see how it wil l have changed. I n order to be able to do that

we count on the respondents to this survey and al l those many companies that did not or could not be

identified. We wil l seek to broaden our database of companies particularly in some African countries and

regions which have not been ful ly engaged in the present survey. We invite al l African companies that have

not responded or that we may have overlooked, to send us their contacts.

Strong interest has been expressed by companies in col laborating with AARSE. AARSE wil l step up activities to

better involve the private sector, provide relevant information and facil itate connectivity between the African

private sector and international actors.

Though primarily operating on national level, many companies seem to see an opportunity in a Pan-African or

sub-regional trade association. AARSE and EARSC wil l help facil itate this by sharing EARSC’s experience in

coordinating the private EO sector in Europe. Companies expressed interest in stronger relationships with

European companies. EARSC members are interested in developing l inks with potential partners in Africa, and

subsequent actions to this survey such as a trade association representing African companies would help in

this. Further steps should be identified to enable such l inks to be developed including measures connected to

Copernicus and GEO.

This survey has covered the industrial EO services sector in several African countries but has missed some

important elements that should be covered in future surveys.

1 . Firstly, the employment figures should be complemented with those of public sector bodies using EO data.

The sector is a particular mix of public and private actors and the survey has del iberately only looked at the

private side as a clear priority.

2. Secondly, coverage would need to be extended to the whole of Africa, particularly to some countries and

regions that are not wel l represented this time round.

3. Thirdly, concerning the private sector, the study has only looked at those companies which are supplying

services to others. There are many organisations which are using EO data as the basis for analysis within their

own organisation i.e. as internal service departments..

EARSC is a non-profit-making organisation created in 1 989 with the mission to foster the development of European Geo-

I nformation Service I ndustry. Our main objective is to stimulate a sustainable market for geo-information services using EO data.

EARSC has 75 members from more than 22 European countries and is a recognised association both in Europe and worlwide.

EARSC represents the European providers of geo-information services creating a network between industry, decision-makers

and users. We consider that the market is at a crucial stage of development as Earth observation becomes more frequently used

by society and adds positive value to our daily l ives. Nevertheless, there are many issues, opportunities and threats facing

industrial actors. Supported by a smal l secretariat, EARSC informs and involves its members through its website and newsletters,

through the provision of web-tools, as wel l as organizing events. EARSC provides tools for its members to promote themselves

and their services. As wel l as the EARSC web-site (www.earsc.org), we run a portal (www.earsc-portal.eu) which promotes l inks

between EARSC members and other Communities such as the Oil & Gas industry, and a brokerage site (www.eopages.eu) for

customers to find the services which they require and which companies can provide them with a solution.

EARSC

26, Rue Beranger1 1 90, Brussels, Belgium

[email protected] | www.eopages.eu | www.eomag.eu

AARSE was founded in 1 992 and incorporated as an international Non-Government Organisation (NGO) under Section 21 of the

South African Companies Act 61 of 1 973 in 2008. AARSE is a membership-based organisation, governed by an Executive Council

and an international Advisory Board. AARSE is a Pan-African organisation, and the only organisation at the moment that can

represent the African EO / Geospatial industry. I t is a partner of several dedicated African institutions and international

organisations such as: the I nternational Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS), the IEEE Geosciences and

Remote Sensing Society (GRSS), and the European Association of remote Sensing Laboratories (EARSeL). AARSE is a participating

organisation in the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and an institutional member of the Global Spatial Data I nfrastructure

(GSDI) Association. As a member of the UN-ECA’s Executive Working Group on Geo-information, AARSE has contributed to the

activities of the UN-ECA Committee on Development I nformation, Science and Technology (CODIST), sub-Committee on Geo-

information. The AARSE international conference series commenced in 1 996 and is conducted biennial ly across Africa. I ts main

objective is to bring together scholars and professionals from the African and international community to present latest

achievements, discuss chal lenges and share experiences. Together with its partners AARSE has also organised other conferences,

dedicated workshops and short courses in various parts of Africa over the years.

AARSE54 Motor Street, Westdene,Johannesburg

Gauteng, 2092Rep. of South Africa

[email protected]://africanremotesensing.org/

www.earscc-portal.eu

http://earsc.org/

www.eopages.eu

http://earsc.org/

http://www.eopages.eu/

www.eomag.eu

aeossummary 2016 vf 140616

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