Space for Early Warning in Africa

• Invitation to Tender
• Implementation

• Expression of Interest/Call for Grants
• Implementation Phase

• Call for Grants
• Implementation Phase

The   Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme   aims to enhance strategic cooperation between African and European institutions and communities in using space-based technologies and services with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is embedded in the Global Gateway, which is the European Union's strategy to boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world, under the leadership of European Commission’s Director-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA).  

The programme is structured around three key components: 

• Component 1: EU–Africa Space Partnership: supporting institutional collaboration and decision-making processes. 

• Component 2: Space and the Green Transition – Focus on Early Warning: developing space-based services, applications, and tools to strengthen Early Warning Systems for hazardous weather and climate-related events. 

• Component 3: Space and the Private Sector: increasing the capacity and skills of the private sector, stimulating growth in the space industry, and expanding the data economy. 

In response to Component 2, the “Space for Early Warning in Africa” (SEWA) Action was initiated in January 2025, with a 4-year implementation period. 

ECMWF activities under this Action will stimulate the use of ECMWF and Copernicus data, as well as other European data, with the aim of co-developing impact-based forecast demonstration services and tools at the regional level in Africa with African partners. The use of Cloud computing and storage resources is envisaged for these tools to be developed close to the data. Through technical advice and co-designed train-the-trainer activities, actual uptake is further enhanced.  

Central to these activities are the close partnerships between the NMHSs and other topic specialists on early warning in Europe and the African RCCs of the WMO and other Sub-Saharan African partners. Peer-to-peer collaborations between European and African entities should be stimulated in this manner. Close links with WMO and their EW4All initiative are to be established to maximise complementarity. 

The ECMWF activities will be implemented in close cooperation with the other two implementing partners, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and the African Union Commission (AUC).

Each partner holds specific responsibilities, which for ECMWF are focused on the following three expected Outputs:  

• 2.1 Improved access, processing, applicability and use of data and services for Early Warning 
• 2.3 Enable co-design and delivery of Impact-Based Forecast services & tools 
• 2.5 Strengthened human capacities, knowledge and community shaping   

As part of Output 2.3, an in-depth scoping study shall be conducted to map existing initiatives and data interfaces on early warning, collect user requirements, identify priorities and develop an action plan.

• SEWA will contribute to the implementation of the UN led "Early Warnings for All" (EW4All), in particular to pillar 2 ‘Detection, observations, monitoring, analysis and forecasting of hazards’ (led by WMO)

• SEWA will also contribute to African Union Commission’s Africa Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Action System (AMHEWAS)

• SEWA at ECMWF will build on strong existing capacities
  • EU-funded initiatives, such as Copernicus and GMES & Africa, ClimSA , etc. which laid the groundwork for the use of EU funded Earth Observation (EO) data in Africa
  • European meteorological infrastructure (EMI), incl. European NMHSs in their expertise on Early Warning
  • ECMWF’s long-standing experience supporting WMO and WMO’s Regional Association-I (RA-I) countries and Regional Climate Centres (RCCs) in data provisions and services on Numerical Weather Predictions.
  • ECMWF’s cloud infrastructure and ECMWF weather and Copernicus data and training capacities

• Focus at regional level:  Eastern Africa (ICPAC); Western Africa (AGRHYMET); o wnership  Southern Africa incl. Indian Ocean Islands (SADC-CSC); Central Africa (CAPC-  AC).
• Close engagements with ACMAD for inputs on all four regions
• Each RCC would take the role to engage other essential African entities, incl.   RSMCs / selected African NMHSs
• Mandate NMHSs on issuing EW to be respected in line with WMO 1947 UN   Convention of the WMO
• African Union Commission: central role in governance.
• Enable European  European NMHSs and related partners active in the domain of Early Warnings
  meteorological  are expected to play central role to team up with African RCCs to
  capacity   implement regional pilots on impact-based forecasts and the training activities.
• Use of European Weather Cloud infrastructure: capitalize on European   investment to serve both African and European communities.