THEEthiopia has built a privately funded astronomical observatory, taking the first step towards creating a full-fledged national space agency. With the investment of $ 3 million, the East African country joins a handful of other African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, which have their own space programs. The government hopes the movement will boost the local agriculture and communication industries.
As you can imagine, the decision has drawn criticism due to the fact that Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, also struggles with malnutrition and poverty among its people. But so far, no government money or international aid has been used to establish the observatory, which was built by the Ethiopian Space Science Society (ESSS), an organization funded by the tycoon of the Ethiopian Saudi company Mohammed Alamoudi.
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