Egyptian students take pictures at the end of the Talk With Taikonauts event at the Chinese Embassy in Egypt on September 6 

In the world of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the Little Prince observed the sun setting 43 times a day on his planet. Nigerian student Leon Onunaiju, 14, now understands that astronauts may observe the sun setting 16 times per day from space. He is excited to know that astronauts can view the Sahara, Mount Kilimanjaro, and several sizable, highly lighted cities on a clear night from the windows of their spacecraft while flying over the African continent. 

The youngster, who aspires to be an astronaut, was excited after speaking with three Chinese taikonauts of  the Shenzhou-14 mission via video link. The taikonauts answered questions about their experiences living in space as well as the scientific experiments that were conducted in China’s space station on September 6. While the main venue of the Talk With Taikonauts was located at the headquarters of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, young people from Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia and South Africa joined the dialogue at sub-venues. 

The Mission of China to the AU, the Chinese Manned Space Agency (CMSA), and the AU Commission jointly organised the event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and the AU. According to Mohamed Belhocine, commissioner for education, science, technology and innovation within the AU, this is also an extension of China-Africa cooperation in space science and technology and a prospect for future collaboration. 

An inspiring conversation 

The manned Shenzhou-14 spacecraft carries the three Chinese taikonauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe on a six-month mission for the construction of the Tiangong space station, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The crew’s conversations with young Africans are not their first. Chen and Liu visited Namibia in 2019. At the beginning of this new interaction with young Africans, Chen recalled, “The zeal and compassion of its people, as well as the breadth and beauty of its land, left us with unforgettable memories.” 

Passant Sayed Khalil, previous Egyptian winner of the Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition who currently teaches Chinese language at Cairo University, told ChinAfrica that “the discussion was actually extremely amazing.” She asked Liu about the difficulties she had as the first female taikonaut from China and how she fulfilled her ambition. 

Liu responded by pointing out that a substantial quantity of flight data shows there is no discernible difference between the sexes in terms of work capability in space. “In fact, in every walk of life, there are outstanding females dedicated to their positions. As long as we cherish our dreams, we will have power,” Liu answered, expressing gratitude to her family for helping her to achieve her dream. 

Khalil, who has made three trips to China, claimed that Liu’s adventure had motivated her. “If we want to accomplish something in life, we must put forth all of our effort,” she said. 

Taling Tene Rodrigue, a Cameroonian researcher and deputy director of the Centre for Francophone Studies of the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University, said that he attended the Talk With Taikonauts from the Confucius Institute of the University of Yaoundé II in Cameroon, and believes Sino-African space cooperation has a bright future in this new era. “Indeed, I have seen young people being very proud and excited to communicate with taikonauts far away in space, as if they were their next-door neighbours,” he told ChinAfrica. 

A Somali teenager attends the Talk With Taikonauts event at the Chinese Embassy in Somalia on September 6 

Continuity in space cooperation 

The African space programme is still in its infancy, as Rodrigue noted. “Only 41 satellites, or 0.85 percent of the total, are owned by 11 of the 54 African nations, with the United States accounting for nearly half. Therefore, it is not surprising that Africa accounts for only 2 percent of the world’s space economy,” explained the Cameroonian researcher.  

The expert thinks that Africa’s efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 are hampered by its lack of space capabilities. “China’s willingness to share its space technology with Africa is unquestionable, so the development of space technology and capabilities is a crucial area of cooperation between the two sides,” he noted. 

In fact, in recent years, space cooperation has emerged as a key area of partnership between China and Africa. In his statement at the ceremony, Hu Changchun, ambassador and head of the Mission of China to the AU, said that a variety of exchanges had been fruitful, including satellite manufacturing and launch, aerospace infrastructure development, resource sharing, engineering training, and cooperative research. In this way, the Addis Ababa event represents a continuation of contemporary China-Africa space collaboration. 

A cooperation agreement between China and Egypt was signed in January 2019 for the development of a small remote sensing satellite, a ground control station, and a number of ground application systems. Egypt will be the first country in Africa with comprehensive satellite assembly, integration, and testing capabilities once the project is finished. 

Several African countries, including Ethiopia, Algeria, Tunisia and Namibia, in addition to Egypt, have already started their space missions with Chinese assistance. A Namibian flag was sent into space by three taikonauts aboard the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft last year. 

Additionally, China is assisting Africa in its fight against COVID-19 by utilizing space science and technology. The issue of access to education was addressed in May 2020 when a team from the China Academy of Space Technology, working with the Algerian Space Agency, established a distant learning system utilizing Alcomsat-1, Algeria’s first communication satellite, and created a national educational TV channel. 

The AU will collaborate with the China National Space Administration to consider and produce a white paper on China-Africa space cooperation, defining priority areas and major orientations, in accordance with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Dakar Action Plan (2022-2024), which was adopted last November. “The space cooperation between China and Africa would deliver a wide variety of advantages to the peoples of both sides,” Hu said.