Abu Dhabi’s Space42 Wants To Map All Of Africa — And It’s Looking For Funding To Do It

Space42, an Abu Dhabi-based satellite broadband company, is looking to raise funds to expand its mapping initiative in Africa.

According to a Bloomberg News report, citing Space42 Chief Executive Officer Hasan Al Hosani, the firm is in talks with the African Union Development Agency and existing partners on the continent, including Microsoft Corp. and data center firm Esri, as well as other financial firms.

However, he reportedly added that the conversations are in the early stages and the business doesn’t yet have a target for how much it will raise.

The report stated that so far, the company, already backed by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, has started building out a physical presence and has connected schools and clinics in countries such as South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The mapping initiative aims to provide detailed maps for all 54 African countries, which can be utilized for logistics, disaster response, and urban planning purposes. Space42 plans to sell the data to governments and ultimately make it available to businesses, the company has said. 

The company has so far sent eight satellites to space and plans to launch another three this year. They offer varying types of coverage in 150 countries in Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and much of Asia.

African governments are increasingly turning to satellite-based internet providers to enhance connectivity in remote areas lacking fiber internet infrastructure. Elon Musk's Starlink is also rapidly expanding its presence on the continent.

Starlink serves over 6 million customers worldwide and is present in about 20 African countries.

The SpaceX unit is now looking to enter South Africa, Musk’s country of birth, and has repeatedly lobbied the government to relax its regulations that require companies to hand over 30% ownership to black-owned businesses. 

The company has instead offered to extend free satellite internet service to 5,000 schools and provide 2.4 million students with high-speed connectivity in place of the Black ownership requirements.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Starlink-rival AST SpaceMobile was in the 'bearish' territory on Friday.

Also See: Under Fire From Trump, Jerome Powell Set To Clarify Rate Outlook, Fed Independence At Jackson Hole Speech

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect corrections made in the original Bloomberg article, which clarified the target of Space42’s fundraising.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.