France is deepening its engagement with Africa’s emerging space architecture as Europe seeks to strengthen its strategic autonomy in space, putting the newly established African Space Agency at the centre of a broader push for stronger international cooperation.
The development comes as African countries increasingly move beyond individual national space programmes towards continental cooperation, creating a new platform for countries such as Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco to play a bigger role in the global space economy.
The issue was highlighted at a press briefing organised by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), France’s space agency, ahead of the International Space Summit scheduled to take place in Paris on September 9 and 10, 2026.
The summit is expected to bring together governments, international organisations, space companies, researchers and other stakeholders from about 120 countries, including Nigeria, to discuss security and defence, the space economy, regulation, and science and exploration. France has already begun building a formal relationship with the African Space Agency, headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, giving Paris a continental platform for cooperation at a time when Europe is seeking greater independence in critical space capabilities.
Benjamin Haddad, France’s minister delegate for Europe, said the push is taking place against a difficult geopolitical backdrop, with space becoming increasingly contested and private companies rapidly changing the balance of power. “We are in a tense geopolitical context, marked by weakened multilateralism, geopolitical competition, new actors, especially private actors emerging in the domain of space, which is accelerating on this issue,” Haddad said at the briefing.
He said France remains a major space power and has maintained an ambitious national and European strategy, including its own launchers and a leading financial role in the European Space Agency.