The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and top African Union Commission officials met in Pretoria, South Africa, to discuss and assess the progress of the work on the MARCOSIO project funded by GMES & Africa from 23rd – 25th February 2023 as part of the GMES & Africa Phase 2 project monitoring mission.

In attendance were Dr Tidiane Ouattara, GMES&Africa Programme Coordinator, who led the AUC technical team, Sives Govender, Research Group Leader at CSIR, and other critical stakeholders. During the first meeting, Africa Marine and Coastal Operations for Southern Africa presented the 2022 End of Year report.

The GMES and Africa Marine and Coastal Operations for Southern Africa (MarCOSIO) project aims to maintain, further develop and provide a sustainable platform for local, institutional, human and technical capabilities across Southern African countries through the development of regionally-optimised satellite observations and model-based forecast services focused on sustainable socio-economic development for the South and East African marine and coastal domains. The project was created to demonstrate the effectiveness of space sciences for resource management and maritime security.

To support the sustainable management of marine resources, enhance marine governance, and encourage the expansion of the blue economy in the South and East African areas, the GMES and Africa MarCOSIO project offers new jointly created decision-making services. In 2021, GMES & Africa installed a EUMETSAT e-Station at the CSIR premises in South Africa to enable regional partners and various research, academic, and industry organisations to have access to EO data through the eStation and the MarCOSIO portal to support the implementation of sustainable development policies at the continental, regional and national levels.