As an economist, I have always had a keen interest in developmental issues with a particular focus on identifying new avenues for job creation and mitigating job losses in traditional industries such as mining, caused by the implementation of large-scale transformation projects. Growing up in a mineral resource-rich country that underwent structural adjustment programs, I desired to contribute to advancing policy for economic development. During my master’s studies, my dissertation investigated how much of the proceeds from the sale/exploitation of mineral resources could be safely spent by governments in such endowed economies without compromising long-term sustainability. Through this research, I became aware of the role of geospatial technologies in mapping mineral resource reserves and spatial technologies to monitor the emissions that result from mining activities. This felt like a eureka moment; a spark was lit with a curiosity and hunger to understand how space technologies and the growth of the space sector could address some of the continent's most pressing challenges around job creation, climate change, and sustainability. As a soccer/football fan, I often describe space to my colleagues as a versatile soccer player who the coach deploys to assist other players in their respective positions on the soccer field. Space technologies create efficiencies in other sectors such as agriculture, mining, and environmental management for example which makes it unique and powerful.

It has been challenging, fun, and incredibly rewarding. I believe that it is an exciting time to be involved in the space sector. We are truly in the gold era of space with key developments such as increased private sector investment and technological improvements providing unique opportunities to chart a path forward to create sustainable economic growth for the African continent. There are not many economists working in the space sector on the continent. Before working in the space sector, I used to hold the misconception that investment in space was misaligned with national development priorities – I mean why should Africa invest in space when there are more pressing issues to be addressed on the continent? However, my awe and excitement for what the space sector offers and how it contributes to the effective day-to-day working of our societies continues to be mind-blowing: from satellite navigation and position systems that power various GPS functionalities on our phones and other devices, to earth observation data that can be used to detect oil spills in the oceans or soil change and other environmental factors to optimise agricultural productivity – the existing use cases are incredibly impactful. The field of economics gives me a broad understanding of society, how other industries have matured and navigated economic shocks, and frameworks to nurture innovation clusters that have been critical enablers to the growth of other sectors such as mining, agriculture, and manufacturing. Thus, my expertise in policy and finance has enabled me to support private and public sector entities in developing strategies to grow their respective space ecosystems. My finance expertise has also allowed me to bridge the gap in demystifying space for actors who have the funds to support the growth of the sector and empower startups leveraging space data and solutions to develop compelling business propositions to secure patient capital that is required for growth.

This is a tough one because I have many aspirations. I am passionate about seeing Africa take its place at the centre stage of space activities in the global landscape. One of the key challenges that I hope to address is unlocking access to funding particularly global private capital. We have seen the success stories of SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and Skyrora (the list is long). I desire to be a pioneer on the continent in all matters related to the economics of space and commercialisation of space technologies by deepening my networks in finance/investments and assisting global investors in capitalising on the comparative advantages that the emerging African space sector offers vis-à-vis more mature ecosystems such as the U.S. and Europe. Success for me over the short term involves mobilising $100 million in funding to support the implementation of space interventions on the continent over the next 5 years. Easy right? Truly I dream of seeing an African Space Tech Fund emerge that is as successful as Seraphim Capital – an entity that I closely follow. Additionally, as an economist, I desire to push the frontier of thought leadership in building economic models and frameworks that communicate the economic gains that are derived from space activities and feed those learning to inform best practices in other mature industries, particularly those where the applications of space solutions may not be as clearly understood. I am currently working on a series of case studies that will be publicly available – this series shall provide an in-depth understanding of key global success stories of space tech companies and empower our local space tech start-ups to leverage what they did well, contextualise those efficiencies to our unique African context, and position themselves to compete and establish dominance in the global space economy. In Cameroon, we have a tag line that says: impossible n’est pas camerounais which roughly translates to nothing is impossible for a Cameroonian. I extrapolate this statement to my vision for the African continent and put forward the phrase that leadership in space innovation is not impossible for Africa.