Yearender: Ethiopia bids farewell to historic year with Nobel Peace Prize, maiden satellite (2)

Ethiopia's first-ever satellite, known as ETRSS-1, is launched on a Long March-4B carrier rocket at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province on Dec. 20, 2019. (Photo by Zheng Taotao/Xinhua)

MAIDEN SATELLITE BOOSTS ETHIOPIA'S COMPETITIVENESS

Just last week, Ethiopia - Africa's second populous nation next to Nigeria with some 105 million total population - launched a wide-range multispectral remote-sensing microsatellite, dubbed ETRSS-1, that was sent into space by a Long March-4B carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

The satellite, which is expected to monitor the environment and weather patterns for better agricultural planning, drought early warning, mining activities and forestry management of the country, also ignited new expectations as the East African country becomes one of the few African countries to have their own dedicated satellite.

The Ethiopian premier, in his televised address to the nation upon the launch of the country's maiden satellite to space, heralded the start of a historic moment in Ethiopia's quest towards the development of space science sector.

"I believe that this satellite, which was registered as the first-ever satellite to be launched to orbit in our country's history, will not be the last as it will be followed by many others in the future," Ahmed added.

Noting that the East African country had been forced to purchase satellite data and image from others due to lack of dedicated Ethiopian satellite thus far, Ahmed stressed that the latest launched satellite would enable the country to carefully follow large-scale projects across the country.

Ahmed also stressed that the satellite "will play a crucial role in modernizing our agriculture sector by creating conducive environment through the provision of scientific data and knowledge."

He added that it will also inject a much-needed capacity for the country to compete and penetrate African and global market.

Noting that China has provided funding support for the project, Ahmed stressed that project had transferred knowledge to Ethiopian experts who have been able to take part "from design to production" in the satellite project.

The newly launched satellite also brings joy to Ethiopians both at home and abroad as many Ethiopian social media users have been posting, with pictures and captions, following the successful launch of the country's first ever satellite into space.

Ethiopians had called for capitalizing on the two notable achievements to leapfrog Ethiopia's status in various socioeconomic sectors.