African countries are appealing for a key European space program to be extended into Africa. Representatives of the African Union, the ACP Secretariat and the five African Regional Economic Groupings (CEMAC, ECOWAS, IGAD, IOC and SADC) have signed a joint declaration calling for the European Commission to plan an extension of its Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative to include Africa.

GMES Africa would be a continuation of the African Monitoring of Environment for Sustainable Development project recently approved by the European Commission. The implementation of the GMES Africa initiative might be funded as part of the 10^th European Development Fund.

The present initiative would be the third pan-African project funded by the European Union and implemented with the support of Eumetsat, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.