"We will follow Russia's footsteps," Ethiopia's Innovation and Technology Deputy Minister, Yeshurun Alemayehu, commented on Russia's achievements in space sector, noting that they could be used by Africa as a "benchmark."
Recently, Russian Space agency Roscosmos has invited African partners to participate in the Russian Orbital Station project, and some countries have expressed interest.
African countries will use opportunities provided by Roscosmos, to "develop the national space programs and also the African space program" as well as to "inspire the future generations" to participate in space activities, Alemayehu told Sputnik Africa.
Africa wants to collaborate with Russia in space sector to enhance the continent's homegrown technical capacity and "institutional building," he added.
Speaking about the African Space Agency, proposed by the African Union, the deputy minister noted that its products and services will help to extract the continent's resources and develop its economic activity.
It will also facilitate the creation of "strong scientific society" in Africa, which, in turn, will contribute to the continent's growth, he noted.
"So the objective [of the agency] has to be in line with human capacity building and also capacity building in the infrastructure, and also the international collaboration. This has to be the objectives and also the strategies in the African space policy," Alemayehu underlined.
Commenting on how multipolarity facilitates Africa's development in the space sector, the deputy minister highlighted that the multipolar world "opens doors" for Africa to collaborate with countries leading in the space sector and attracting investment.
"The emergence of this multipolar world gives Africans a new opportunity, and it opens doors to the continent because as I said, we have a lot of resources, untapped resources, the resource in terms of human power and also in terms of natural resources and the different resources which are untapped," he stressed.
According to him, multipolarity also helps the continent in terms of "human capacity building," including training, collaborative research, attracting the younger generation to science.