Egypt had a leading role in coordinating between working groups to lay down an African space policy and strategy, which was ratified Monday by African leaders during the 26th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Chairman of the National Authority for Remote Sensing & Space Sciences (NARSS) Medhat Mokhtar said.

The move is a huge event for the African continent, Mokhtar said, pointing out to the vital role Egypt had played in supporting cooperation mechanisms among African countries.

The accomplishment is the product of recommendations of the ministerial conference of the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST), which took place in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo, in November 2012.

The documents aim at promoting the dependence on space sciences technology in Africa to achieve sustainable development, he said.