GGOS Africa: Advancing Regional Geodetic Collaboration and Capacity

Geodesy is the backbone of modern infrastructure, enabling climate resilience, disaster preparedness, precision agriculture, and smart cities. Despite its critical role, Africa’s geodetic infrastructure remains underdeveloped and fragmented, limiting the continent’s ability to fully support its own development and contribute to global geodesy. The accuracy and sustainability of global reference frames and Earth system monitoring depend on a well-distributed, fully integrated geodetic network—one in which Africa’s participation is not optional, but essential. However, the region continues to face infrastructure deficits, data accessibility challenges, and policy gaps, which hinder long-term geodetic sustainability.

 Recognizing the urgency of this issue, initiatives are underway to assess Africa’s geodetic infrastructure, expand networks, and improve data accessibility. South Africa is leading efforts to bridge this gap, developing policy frameworks that prioritize geodesy as critical infrastructure, securing sustainable investment, and fostering international partnerships to modernize and expand geodetic networks and coordinate efforts across the continent. This presentation will provide an update on recent progress, ongoing initiatives, and plans to strengthen Africa’s geodetic infrastructure. While challenges remain, continued collaboration, investment, and policy development are essential to ensuring that Africa becomes a fully integrated and indispensable part of the global geodesy community.