Ethiopia has built a
privately funded astronomical observatory, taking the first step towards
creating a fully-fledged national space agency. With the US$3 million
investment, the East African country joins a handful of other African nations,
including Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt, that have their own space programs,
and the government hopes the move will boost the local agriculture and
communication industries.
As you might imagine, the decision has attracted criticism due
to the fact that Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, is also
battling with malnourishment and poverty among its people. But so far no
government money or international aid has been used to establish the
observatory, which was built by the Ethiopian
Space Science Society (ESSS) -
a body funded by Ethiopian-Saudi business tycoon Mohammed Alamoudi.
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