2012-02-20 12:42:24 - At the eighteenth African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa in January, the supreme organ of the Union expressed its support for the African Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. Expected to be operational by 2025, the SKA will be a revolutionary radio telescope that will allow scientists to address many of the fundamental, unanswered questions about the universe we live in.

As the prime representative body for 54 African states, the Union declared its full support for the African bid for the groundbreaking SKA project. With the decision on where to site the SKA expected in following months, the heads of state and government recognized the importance of large scientific infrastructures for Africa.

In its decision the Assembly of Heads of State and Government endorsed the African bid to host the SKA and welcomed the progress made by Republic of South Africa in submitting the final bid documents to the Founding Board of the SKA. The assembly also expressed its gratitude to eight other countries participating in the bid – Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Kenya and Zambia – for

providing diplomatic, regulatory, technical and logistical support.

Heads of State and Government recognized the potential that investments in different radio astronomy infrastructures and projects in Africa, such as the planned Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network, have to enhance continent’s science and technology capacities. With this in mind the inclusion of Radio Astronomy was proposed as a priority focus area for Africa’s international science and technology partnerships, such as the Eighth Africa-European Union Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space.

Notes for editors

The African Union was established in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The highest decision-making organ is the Assembly, made up of all the heads of state or government of member states. The vision of the Union is “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.” The Union’s objectives include achieving greater unity and solidarity between African countries; accelerating the political and socio-economic integration of the continent; encouraging international cooperation; promoting peace, security, and stability on the continent; and promoting democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance.

South Africa, with other eight African countries (Kenya, Ghana, Mauritius, Madagascar, Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique) as partners, and Australia together with New Zealand have been picked as possible sites to build the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The budget for building the SKA is €1.5 billion and it will cost about €150 million per year to operate it.

In addition to offering wide coverage of the astronomically “rich” southern sky, South Africa provides a radio quiet zone, with low levels of radio frequency interference. It has very little light pollution in comparison to other industrialised countries, at the same time offering basic infrastructure of roads, electricity and communication. It is a non-seismic zone, politically stable, not too densely inhabited. Land, labour and services are available and very affordable, and excellent academic infrastructures are in place to support science and technology.