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GMES and Africa: Some insights on the issue of data and Infrastructures

Access to information is one of the keys to Africa's development, a fundamental key. And in this regard, Earth observation data and products are increasingly becoming unparalleled sources of information on the African continent. Facilitating access to these data and products is crucial, especially Copernicus, and this is one of the areas of intervention of GMES and Africa. An overview of the situation. 





The GMES and Africa (G&A) Support Programme

G&A is a joint programme of the African Union Commission (AUC) and European Commission (EC). The programme is meant to contribute to the sustainable management of natural resources through better access to space-based information, data, products, tools and services.   

G&A Consortia

Through the implementation of grants (12 consortia during phase 1 and 8 consortia during phase 2), GMES and Africa supports the supply chain for services on Water & Natural Resources (e.g., land use, wetlands, land, forest resources, etc.) and Marine & Coastal areas (e.g., coastal area monitoring, ship traffic and pollution monitoring, etc.); as well as data access, the generation and provision of services, engagement of users, and development of endogenous capacities. 

Altogether, the GMES and Africa Phase 1 (2017-2022) and phase 2 (ongoing) involve more than 160 institutions in 52 African countries: academia, international organizations, inter-governmental organizations, public and private institutions, NGOs, and regional organizations, amongst others.

G&A Infrastructures 

eStations

The eStations bring data and earth observation products to users and allow to manipulate them according to their needs.

GMES and Africa Phase continues predecessors’ work of deploying EO Stations (eStations stands for environmental stations) in Africa. 12 new eStations have been installed during phase 1, bringing their total to almost 150. If the PUMA stations (meteorological stations) are considered, it brings the total to around 200 EO stations.  

The historical eStations do not depend on Internet, receive via a dish a continuous broadcast of EO data and services from EumetCAST.

The current challenges/needs in terms of eStations are:
  • Maintenance and/or replacement. EStations are ageing and 50% of them are almost obsolete or will need upgrading or replacement, notably the PUMA 2015 stations, with the arrival of MTG data.
  • Develop resident capacities on eStation upgrading, and failures (maintenance and usage) of existing African eStations. This is currently addressed through training delivered by the JRC. 
  • Transition to virtual/online eStation if requested, notably when issues cannot be solved with the physical eStations.
  • Revamp/simplify eStation interface for a more comfortable user experience; or integrate it with the existing systems and platforms (geoportals). 
  • Perform user demand (on the job) training.
  • Establish WMO RAIDEG equivalent groups for the WNR and MCR products that are channeled through the eStations.  


Geoportals

Through the financing of regional projects and institutions, and the setting of a series of geoportals, both regional and thematic, the G&A Program freely offers specific data, products and information, able to monitor the terrestrial and marine environments, and much more. 

Thanks to the G&A supported Consortia, 8 geoportals are now online :
  • CSE (Led Consortia) (Western Africa), 2 services: Sustainable Management of Wetlands for Strengthening Food Security and Ecosystem Resilience in West Africa - GDZHAO (Monitoring of mangrove dynamics, Monitoring of invasive aquatic plants, Monitoring of water surface dynamics, Monitoring of water quality, Monitoring of soil moisture); Multi-scale Flood Monitoring and Assessment Services for West Africa (MiFMASS), http://gdzhao.gmes.cse.sn/
  • CSIR (Southern Africa and Western Indian Oean), 3 services: (Support to) fisheries and aquaculture; Ship traffic monitoring and safety at sea; Coastal monitoring (water quality, coral bleaching), https://marcosio.org/
  • ICPAC (Eastern Africa), 4 services: Natural Habitats Monitoring and Assessment; Tropical Forest Surveillance, Monitoring and Assessment; Agriculture Seasonal Monitoring, Early Warning and Assessment; Rangeland Seasonal Monitoring, Early Warning and Assessment, http://gmes.icpac.net/data-center
  • OSS (Northern Africa), 3 services: Land degradation monitoring (http://misland.oss-online.org); Water abstractions monitoring (http://misbar.oss-online.org); Seasonal agriculture monitoring 
  • RCMRD (Eastern Africa), 3 services: Land Degradation Monitoring and Assessment; Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment; Open Geographical Regional Reference Vector Database for water and Agro-ecological zonings, https://gmesgeoportal.rcmrd.org
  • SASSCAL (Southern Africa), 1 service: Support monitoring of Wetlands (transboundary), http://gmes-geoportal.sasscal.org
  • UoG (Western and Northern Africa), 6 services: Provision of potential fishing zone charts overlaid with vessel traffic; Monitoring and forecasting oceanographic variables; Forecast of ocean conditions disseminated as SMS alerts; Generate coastal vulnerability indices; Mapping of coastal and ecosystem/ habitats; Oil spills, http://geoportal.gmes.ug.edu.gh/



In Central Africa, the CICOS led Consortia is currently developing a Geoportal that will deal with Forest Monitoring and Management.  

G&A Geoportals offer access to data and various value-added products connected to the services offered, water and natural resources on one hand, and marine and coastal areas on the other hand. Here also, the Consortia have expressed some needs/challenges, including:
  • Development, and promotion of existing GMES and Africa geoportals to the users.
  • Offer customized data and optimized services i.e., data ready for decision making.
  • Implement user-centric systems – i.e., system locked to user needs, rather than technology driven systems (user-friendly/less technical interfaces).
  • Address sustainability of platforms beyond the life of the project (implant a resident capacity, recruitment, etc.).

Copernicus hubs

The Copernicus hubs, web based, give access to data, product, and services. 

In June 2018, AUC and EC (DEFIS) signed in Brussels a Cooperation Arrangement that opened data access and use of Copernicus Sentinel data and products to Africans. This opened also the way to technical operational arrangements for the exploitation of the space component of Copernicus between ESA and some African beneficiaries (mainly G&A consortia pre-selected by the AUC). 

Despite a low consumption of Copernicus data and products in Africa compared to other regions, this is increasing. In 2021 Africa ranked second among the 5 continents in terms of growth. 

It is more than likely that the consortia are contributing to this increase: All the consortia are using data and products from Sentinel S1, S2, and S3. And, in a near future,  some consortia intend to go further, i.e., to host Copernicus data and product hubs, as mentioned above. 

Thus, depending on the results of the analysis of their initial situation, these consortia may have to improve their capacities, bandwidth and equipment to handle more simultaneous requests, process data, store products and data, customize specific and region related interfaces, etc.


The development of the African infrastructures and new technologies

The eStation is a means to distribute data and products to users. In the meantime, the Africa's connectivity, long limited and expensive, has significantly improved as explained below. This trend is going to accelerate.

Internet

Internet is growing important in Africa – if not key - for accessing data and products, as huge improvements are made by operators either private or public. ITC reported in 2021 that since 2000, the number of people with access to the internet in Africa has grown to over 520 million, or 40% of the population – thanks to improved infrastructure, overseas and terrestrial fiber networks, 3G- 5G, and satellites technologies.

By mid-2019, sub-Saharan Africans living within 25km of a functioning fiber-optic network node were around 584 million people (about 52% of the region’s population). GMES and Africa is exploring with "Africa Connect" how to connect institutions of the consortia to the current high speed land networks "GEANT" or NREN, although without substantial results so far. Only one GMES and Africa consortium (RCMRD) reports using a local NREN.

Mobile Internet 

Access to the internet via cell phones is also spreading and has become the solution to reach the last mile i.e., serve the end users where they work. Internet access in Africa relies mainly relies on mobile networks, with a 28% penetration rate of mobile broadband compared with less than 5% for fixed broadband in most countries across sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa), according to GSMA.

AIFC reports that since the year 2000, the number of people in the whole of Africa with internet access has jumped to more than 520 million, or 40% of the population, and that some 60% of these people access the internet via mobile phones. By 2020, according to the GSMA, 81% of people with a mobile internet connection in the Saharan region had 3G coverage, 51% had 4G coverage, and 0.4% had 5G coverage.

Africa's current bandwidth is far lower than international standards. However, it has expanded tenfold during the decade until 2019, and would reach 100Tbps by 2026. This would make Africa the fastest-growing region in the world. Internet traffic is doubling every 18 months in Africa, and, in terms of mobile broadband, Africans are quickly transitioning from 3G to 4G.

The cost of data however remains an issue. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most expensive region in the world for mobile data. The median cost of 1GB of data was 4% of monthly GDP per capita in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 –the 5GB cost was 10.2% of this GDP. The cheapest device providing Internet access accounted for 26.5% of monthly GDP per capita in 2020, up from 39.2% in 2016.

Smartphone affordability – particularly of 4G devices that enable a better user experience – is a major factor behind the relatively low adoption rate and, by extension, the mobile internet usage gap in sub-Saharan Africa.

Satellite Internet

Mobile network operators are also thinking beyond cables as geostationary satellites are an option to provide access to landlocked, remote, or rural areas. This is the case for example, of Starlink, Eutelsat. However, the service currently offered, even though is dropping, seems to be out of economic reach for most Africans, with many people struggling to meet their basic needs.


G&A consortia needs for data and infrastructure

With the support of European partners (EU JRC, EUMETSAT, ESA), the needs related to data access/broadcast and infrastructure in Africa are addressed by G&A in different ways. 

The programme addresses these needs by deploying more eStations, by developing geoportals (for data and products), by supporting the establishment of Copernicus hubs, and by providing training, mostly internet-based, in relevant and emerging technologies.
 
Whereas data and product access and dissemination long remained a challenge, this lock is now being lifted with the development of Internet in Africa and that one is becoming an easy or common means of access and dissemination, thus contributing to the democratization of the use of space products. 

To get data, generate products, consortia are pragmatic. They cross-reference and leverage various available infrastructure and sources of data. They explore integrated online solutions such as cloud-based solutions or look to other programmes they implement to power their processes. As such, G&A interacts with DE Africa, SERVIR, and ClimSA, to exchange data, products as well as approach and methods.

In addition, G&A consortia and European partners have explored new technologies to access and disseminate large Earth observation data sets (Copernicus): National Research and Education Network (NREN), African Data Centers, Open Data Cube, cloud computing, Google Earth Engine, Mobile Applications, JRC Big Data Analytics Platform (BDAP), EUMETSAT terrestrial, Jupyter Notebooks, and Open Geospatial API.

Despite this, Consortia are still reporting on many other factors to consider in accessing data and products, all linked to the question of infrastructure. These include the distance to an internet access provider, the cost of access, low bandwidth, power cuts, lack of local capacities for maintenance, etc. The nature of these challenges varies among countries and regions (see sources below). They contribute to limit (sometimes heavily) the broadcasting of data and products by impacting their availability and cost.  


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