## 7 Conclusions  
This paper discussed the potential of capacity building in Earth observation, in the context of an African emerging space agency (i.e., SANSA) for supporting the implementation, monitoring and reporting towards the achievement of AU-Agenda 2063 goals. This was done by providing an overview of available open and free satellite data, FOSS software, value-added EO-based products as well as dissemination platforms that can potentially support policy and decision making towards the achievement of national and continental priorities. Furthermore, the paper identified challenges and opportunities for wider adoption of EO and associated elements in Africa to promote sustainable development and demonstrated that strategic partnerships can enhance opportunities for African emerging space agencies. Based on the discussions in this paper, the following conclusions and recommendations were reached in the context of addressing AU-Agenda 2063 and Capacity Building. * The availability and access to open and free EO data are critical for addressing data gaps in Africa, supporting national development and regional progress reporting on AU-Agenda 2063 imperatives. Multi-user agreements such as the one forged by SANSA and Airbus Defense and Space are an efficient and effective way of reducing the cost of higher-resolution data, thus improving its access for detailed environmental assessment and monitoring and to address data gaps. Concerted efforts are needed to adopt such models to make data available to various countries, achievable through advocacy and coordination by organizations such as AfriGEO, African Space Agency and the African Union. In addition, African emerging space agencies should adopt open data standards and policies to increase the use of data from African missions, without restrictions. * Open-source tools should be exploited and encouraged at African institutions, thus solving technical problems, and exploring new tools should be part of the key performance indicators for technicians, technologists and professionals in government institutions, to increase tolerance to bugs and updates and ensure full exploitation to take advantage of capabilities of FOSS tools. This way, the costs of maintaining proprietary licenses can be significantly reduced. * Emerging African space agencies with EO programs should consider the automation of manual processes to seamlessly produce and rapidly deliver EO-based informational products such as for agricultural optimization, informal settlements detection, illegal ship detection and disaster management, among other things. Cloud-based platforms such as GEE eliminate the need to download, process, and store petabytes of data, thus offering immense prospects for continent-wide research and applications development with minimal costs and equipment [75]. * The provision of EO datasets and products should be in accordance with users' needs and coupled with capacity building to ensure that the provided information is fit-for-purpose, and increase their utility by end-users. In a South African context, this strategy has resulted in increased awareness and demand for EO products and services from various spheres of government. In addition, specific attention needs to be directed towards information dissemination, considering the limitations of internet bandwidth and access in most African countries. Channels such as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), social media and SMS should be considered in conjunction with online platforms, as well as traditional media such as local radio stations for distributing information about, for example, weather, pests and diseases and other agricultural risks facing agricultural communities.