- The Federal Government on Friday in Abuja signed a $250m 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 of its kind in Nigeria. Images generated from it will benefit oil and gas operators, farmers, among others. It will also be used for ocean monitoring, tracking of oil pipelines and also military activities.
- The Director-General, National Space Research and Development Agency, Dr. Seidu Mohammed, while signing the contract, said the SAR technology was necessary for Nigeria because of the challenges the agency had faced 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”.
- According to the NSRDA DG, the Federal Government will contribute its expertise and make a place available to enable the firm set up a ground-saving station and equipment which will process and make the images available for Nigerians.
FG, UK Firm Sign $250m JV Satellite Deal
