African nations are early in their space development and are not currently prepared to compete with space powers in competition to exploit space resources. Activities in space to date have been regulated under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which is vague in its approach to exploitation of space resources. The United States has recently established a framework for private exploitation of space resources via the Artemis Accords and its associated network of bilateral agreements. These frameworks could also provide for an economy enabling environment for member nations that could provide African companies a lower barrier to entry to the space economy than their peers. This article investigates potential impacts of frameworks such as the Artemis Accords on African Union states.
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