NIGCOMSAT has signed a Contract/Collaborative Agreement with Thales Alenia Space in Toulouse, France to collaborate on the Testbed Experimentation of the Nigeria Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS). This collaboration is aimed at boosting business opportunities with the view of addressing navigation and maritime safety in Africa in collaboration with other institutional stakeholders in Africa. Under the agreement, NIGCOMSAT would acquire critical SBAS equipment worth about €400,000.00 Free of Charge from Thales Alenia, including utilization of NIGCOMSAT services and knowledge transfer.
The Executive Director, Engineering Services, Engr. Kazeem Kolawolw Raji, who lead the NIGCOMSAT delegation, stated that the cooperative agreement is a platform that will kick-start the collaboration between the two agencies geared towards establishing the capacity of NIGCOMSAT navigation payload towards the utilization of NigComSat-1R to improve navigation and maritime safety across Africa and beyond.
