Addis Ababa, 04 November 2025 (ECA) - The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in collaboration with the Executive Board of UN-GGIM: Africa, is pleased to announce the Eleventh Session of the Regional Committee of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management for Africa (UN-GGIM: Africa). This session will be convened back-to-back with AfricaGIS 2025 in Accra, Ghana, from 17 to 21 November 2025, under the theme, "Harnessing Geospatial Intelligence for Africa’s Sustainable and Resilient Future."
Established to coordinate and advocate for the advancement of geospatial development in Africa, UN-GGIM: Africa strives to promote a unified vision across the continent. This vision prioritizes spatial literacy, awareness, and transformative capacity-development programs; the establishment of authoritative and interoperable data repositories based on common standards; technological innovation through partnerships with industry leaders; and the integration of cutting-edge geospatial technologies. These efforts aim to support data-driven policies and strategies that modernize national mapping agencies in alignment with Africa’s unique socio-economic challenges and global trends.
The Eleventh Session aims to review previous actions and recommendations while fostering a shared vision of the transformative potential of geospatial information. By emphasizing the significant benefits of geospatial data, the committee seeks to catalyze sustainable development throughout Africa, empowering communities and shaping resilient, prosperous societies. The meeting will also recognize the progress achieved through collective commitment to advancing geospatial data initiatives across the region.
Over the past decade, Africa has increasingly established itself as a key global contributor to geospatial information management. This session represents an opportunity to consolidate this momentum by examining operational structures, gaining consensus, and exploring funding mechanisms essential for sustained progress.
The timing of the Eleventh Session coincides with a critical juncture where reimagining engagement with geospatial data, products, and services is imperative to ensure a sustainable future. The theme encourages embracing innovation, frontier technologies, and integrated frameworks capable of reshaping Africa’s geospatial landscape.
The session will convene experts, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders from Africa and beyond to deliberate on key issues in geospatial information management, both regionally and globally. Participants are expected to exchange knowledge, inspire innovation, and highlight best practices that exploit the continent’s unique geospatial potential.
Aligned with the international conference on geographic information systems in Africa, AfricaGIS 2025, this meeting will foster peer learning by engaging a diverse range of experts, innovators, researchers, policymakers, civil society representatives, and private sector leaders in robust discussions addressing national and regional geospatial policies, emerging technologies, and the ethical use of data.
The Eleventh Session of UN-GGIM: Africa is anticipated to conclude with recommendations that will guide the continent towards becoming geospatially empowered, enhancing the application of geospatial data for sustainable development and informed decision-making.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org