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UK firm to invest $250m in Nigeria’s satellite programme

By BusinessNews Staff on June 28, 2015

The Managing Director of Menasat Group, a United Kingdom (UK) space satellite firm, Mr. Hani Salem, on Friday said the company had sealed a partnership venture with the federal government to invest $250 million into its space satellite programme that would last till 2020.

While advising the new administration to invest in space programme, he said the outfit was encouraged to invest in the country’s space programme because of the feats already recorded by the National Space Research and Development Agency(NSRDA) in the last few years.

The production of high resolution synthetic aperture reader for the agency by Menasat, THISDAY learnt would help in tracking oil leakages and pipelines vandalism in the Niger Delta region, while it would also be useful for the military in the North east.

The investment, Salem said, would also be used in establishing a centre for capacity development for staff of the agency.

Salem who spoke during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the Director General of NSRDA, Prof. Seidu Mohammed, in Abuja, said satellite technology was what Nigeria needed for rapid economic development.

He said: “We promise to do everything we can to make this partnership a success.

“Menasat is investing in the satellite sector and earth observations because NSRDA has done a lot in the area of satellite development.

“Here are talking about the latest in satellite technology and we have the capacity to build upon what NSRDA has done.

“First of all our core specialisation is in the production of synthetic aperture reader satellite technology, and we believe that this will be of great benefits to our outfit and Nigeria.”

In a remark, the DG said the signing of the agreement between NSRDA and Menasat Group, would help the agency in the production of synthetic aperture reader satellite which is different from the optical satellite image that the agency has.

“This is the beginning of good things to come and also an opportunity to create a win-win partnership with the UK company that has come here to set up a synthetic aperture reader with the agency.” Mohammed said.

According to him, satellite technology was vital to the country’s development in agriculture, environment and ocean monitoring.

The DG said: “Here we have always had these complaints, even though we are the national repository for satellite imagery, we have not been able to provide all the required images.

“In the light of that we have specially taken this opportunity in order to satisfy the Nigerian market.

“We hope that with this collaboration with Menasat Group, job opportunities will be created.

Mohammed admitted they had challenges which usually arose from cloud cover in the Southern parts of the country due to lack clear images because of lack of the synthetic aperture reader.

This collaboration, he said would go a long way in helping, particularly in the oil producing areas to track oil leakages and vandalism.

“What we have also done is in complete agreement with the new administration’s space programme which allows the private sector to participate fully in Nigeria’s programme to create opportunities for jobs for Nigerians”, he explained.

With this collaboration, the DG said, it would now be possible to monitor oil leakages in the Niger Delta and also be useful for the military in the North east, and that was just a complimentary images that we currently have in Nigeria.

[ThisDay]

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