(Ecofin Agency) - Solomon Belay, Head of the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI), announced last week that China will help Ethiopia establish a continental satellite data receiver station.

The facility is the fruit of a partnership that also implies that Ethiopia benefits from China’s expertise in training space engineers and launching satellites. The project will be implemented in Addis Ababa and work is expected to be completed within the next three years. It will enable the wide dissemination of spatial information to various African countries for research, analysis, and forecasting.

For Solomon Belay, “Chinese assistance in space science sector has helped Ethiopia achieve significant technological and economic leaps including the launch of the East African country's first space satellite.”

Ethiopia, which is in a phase of opening up to the world, is determined to capitalize on Chinese expertise to learn more and contribute to the development of its space sector.