## 3 Technical Features and Socio-Legal Characteristics of Africa's Satellite Constellation
### Reconstruction of African Territories from Space
AU, \"Report of The Meeting: Preventing conflicts, Promoting integration\" Preparatory Meeting of Experts on the African Union Border Programme Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Conference of African Ministers (Available at: [[http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Conferences/2007/june/PSC/7/Report_final.doc](http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Conferences/2007/june/PSC/7/Report_final.doc)]([http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Conferences/2007/june/PSC/7/Report_final.doc](http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Conferences/2007/june/PSC/7/Report_final.doc))) [41]. The deployment of modern day tools in the form of satellite imagery and other geodetic data is therefore, an imperative in the quest for ascertainment of legal positions during boundary negotiations and dispute settlement procedures [42; 43; 44]. The work to be done is immense. Africa has approximately 28,000 miles of international boundaries. The national boundaries are recognisably of high level of porosity with up to 109 of its international boundaries characterised by permeability. It is significant that experts agree that up to 25% of African international boundaries are completely undemarcated, African international boundaries are 'protected' by about 350 official road crossing points, or one for every 80 miles of boundary [45]. Less than 50% of the world's maritime boundaries have been agreed upon, in Africa, the number is even less than the average in other continents. Africa has 27 mainland coastal statesand maritime delimitation is fraught with ample grounds for dispute. In light of these, it is quite commendable that African States are collectively determined to address their cartographic, earth observation and Remote Sensing (AOCRS) needs and to bring these to bear on the important tasks of delimitation and demarcation of African territories [46; 47]. Management of Boundary Lines and Conservation of State Boundaries: Case Study of the Cameroon-Nigeria Process  
It may be acknowledged that there are few international legally significant events that manage to capture the attention of both the government and the people of independent states like the rendering of a verdict of the International Court of Justice (Hereinafter referred to as the ICJ, the Court or the World Court.). The judgment of 10 October 2002 in the _Land and Maritime dispute Case_ (Cameroon v. Nigeria) was the first by the Court in the 21 st Century to decide upon a territorial dispute on the African continent. It served as a poignant reminder of the lingering effects of a colonial era fast receding in popular memory [48; 49; 50], see particularly para.30. Three notable decisions of the ICJ preceded the Land and Maritime dispute in the new century and each had generated significant interests in their own rights [51; 52; 53], many of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission and several sub commission documents referred to in this section are held on file by the author. The ongoing attempt to implement this judgment by both states in collaboration with the United Nations very quickly opened up new vistas for understanding the full benefits of earth observation technology to maintenance of state boundaries in modern Africa. The coverage of the implementation process involves international boundaries of about 2000 km. The process has also opened up some criticisms of the severe short comings and limitations of legal and judicial work of the ICJ. This is in relation to the realisation that some of the delimitation may have been without adequate reliance on the aid of geospatial science. The parties soon discovered that the lack of modern geospatial data can complicate the job of demarcation of international boundaries. The dearth of Geoscientific Ground data apparently complicated matters both at the judicial hearing and implementation stages of the Land and Maritime Boundary case.