FG, UK Firm Sign $250m Satellite Deal

Federal government in Abuja signed a $250million joint venture/partnership agreement with a United Kingdom-based company, Menasat Gulf Group Plc., to provide Synthetic-Aperture Radar satellites in the country.

When operational, the SAR satellite technology will be the first in Nigeria, while images generated from it will benefit, particularly, the oil and gas operators, farmers, ocean monitoring, tracking of oil pipelines and also assist the military.

Dr. Seidu Mohammed, director-general of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NSRDA), while signing the contract, said the SAR technology was necessary for Nigeria because of the challenges the agency have had in acquiring images in, mostly, the southern part of the country.

“We have always had this constraint that even though we are the national repository for satellite images, we are not able to provide completely all the required images in this country. In the light of that, we have specially taken this opportunity to satisfy the Nigerian market,” he said.

According to the NSRDA DG, Nigeria will contribute its expertise as well as make a place available for the firm that will set up a ground-saving station and equipment to process and make the images available for Nigerians.