AFREF Project

Knowing that the foundation of accurate Geospatial information starts with a uniform coordinate reference system, ECA pursued its effort to develop through the African Reference Frame (AFREF) Project, a unified geodetic reference frame for Africa so that maps and other geoinformation products can be represented on the same datum. AFREF will be based on current satellite positioning technologies, and will form the geodetic infrastructure for multinational projects requiring precise geo-referencing (e.g. three-dimensional and time dependent positioning, geodynamics, precise navigation, and geo-information). Like other continental geodetic reference frames, it will be part of the global geodetic infrastructure. As such, it is being implemented and will be maintained in close cooperation with international partners with expertise and interest in geodetic reference frames, notably the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), the International Global Navigation Systems by Satellites (GNSS) Service (IGS), the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), among others.

ECA negotiated with Trimble to donate five (5) reference stations to the AFREF project through ECA. ECA and the International Steering Committee on AFREF have developed criteria for selecting the locations to install the donated stations. The agreed installation sites are: Maun (Botswana); Niamey (Niger); Moshi (Tanzania); Kinshasa (DRC) and Asosa (Ethiopia). In 2008, two stations were installed and made fully operational in Botswana and Tanzania. The installation sites for two other stations (Niger and Ethiopia) were prepared and the installation process is ongoing. For the remaining one (DRC), the custodianship agreement is still in negotiation with the hosting institution (Commission Internationale du Bassin Congo-Oubangui-Sanga, CICOS).