In Africa, sustainable development depends heavily on the availability of accurate and up-to-date basemaps. These enable governments and organizations to monitor crops, ensure food security, respond to natural disasters with efficiency, track species for conservation, and plan critical infrastructure upgrades. Reliable basemaps form the cornerstone of initiatives to protect communities, foster economic growth, safeguard ecosystems, and develop resilience to climate challenges.
Despite their importance, many African countries lack sufficient basemaps, which presents significant obstacles to progress. Recognizing this gap, Esri has embarked on the Map Africa initiative, a groundbreaking project to create detailed and authoritative basemaps for every country on the continent. This initiative builds on Esri’s long-standing commitment to advancing geospatial technology and data sharing in Africa, offering transformative resources free of charge.
Esri’s global 2D and 3D basemaps vary in quality depending on the development of mapping infrastructure in different regions. In many African nations, structural and economic barriers have hindered the growth of robust geographic information systems. To address these disparities, Esri has spent the past decade providing its technology, including updates and support, at reduced costs to land administration and cadastral agencies in low-income economies. Additionally, the Africa GeoPortal, launched in 2019, has given users across the continent free access to ArcGIS technology, e-learning resources, and collaborative tools. This initiative has made geospatial technology more accessible, empowering local users to tackle challenges with innovative GIS solutions.
Read also: Ethiopia Is Making Maps To Help Improve Soil Health
While the Africa GeoPortal has succeeded in broadening access to technology and training, a critical issue remains: African nations still require reliable and comprehensive basemaps to enable sustainable development, economic growth, and climate resilience. The Map Africa initiative seeks to fill this gap by leveraging advanced ArcGIS technology, geospatial artificial intelligence, and partnerships with leading imagery providers. These high-quality basemaps will serve as a transformative resource, empowering local agencies to maintain and enhance them over time.
Central to the initiative’s design is sustainability and capacity building. Esri plans to establish regional data production hubs across northern, eastern, western, and southern Africa. These hubs will facilitate data collection and processing while hosting training sessions for national mapping agency staff. By equipping local professionals with the skills to update and secure their basemaps, Esri ensures that these resources remain valuable long after their initial development. National governments will be able to use these basemaps to plan infrastructure projects, support economic development, and strengthen climate adaptation efforts.
The project’s first phase will focus on setting up data hubs and producing initial basemaps, followed by a two-year rollout to individual countries. Esri aims to have all African nations using and maintaining comprehensive basemaps by 2030. Beyond this, the initiative aspires to create a continent-wide spatial data infrastructure, fostering cross-border collaboration in disaster response, drought management, and infrastructure development. For the first time, Africa will have high-quality, consistent basemaps that cover the entire continent, paving the way for unprecedented regional cooperation.
Esri is actively collaborating with partners to secure funding and align the project with local priorities. By engaging with regional organizations, governments, and private-sector stakeholders, the initiative promises to deliver maximum impact and ensure long-term sustainability. The Map Africa initiative, together with the Africa GeoPortal, offers a remarkable opportunity for African nations to harness cutting-edge technology to address local challenges, unlock regional potential, and drive progress toward a more sustainable future.
Esri’s commitment to this vision reflects the urgency of the moment. With accurate basemaps, governments and organizations can unlock development opportunities, stimulate economic growth, and build resilience to climate challenges. This ambitious project invites stakeholders to join in creating a reliable geospatial foundation for Africa, empowering nations to address pressing issues and seize new opportunities.
