Nigeria: Satellite confirmed lost forever

  1. Posted on Friday 21 November 2008 - 09:39
    Murtala
    Image of Murtala
    Murtala Mohamed Kamara, AfricaNews reporter in Freetown, Sierra Leone
    The $340m Chinese built Nigeria Communication Satellite (NigCom-Sat) is now confirmed missing in space. NigCom-Sat experienced a major problem recently after a year in operation. Technicians say it is beyond repairs, damaged and has been safely moved to its final resting place in outer-space.
    Nigeria satellite
    The Managing Director of NigCom-Sat, Ahmed Rufai appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology which was chaired by Usaq Akinlade in the federal capital Abuja according to the Vanguard newspaper. Rufai told the House that more money will be needed for the construction of two new equipment as NigCom-Sat is out of the question.

    He said though the satellite is lost forever, talks are ongoing with the insurance company to replace it with a new one. “We wish to state unequivocally that NigCom- Sat 1 is fully insured to the tune of 112 million Euros in accordance with industry standards by renowned international underwriters with proven integrity. The ground segment including the Ground Station and equipment are necessarily insured under a separate policy by local underwriters.”

    Rufai pleaded with the committee to help convince the federal Government to approve the commencement of the utilization of a $500 million concessionary loan from the Chinese Expert Import Bank for the construction of NigCom-Sat 2 and 3.

    It could be recalled that NigCom-Sat 1 was widely reported missing in space as a result of power failure. Information and Telecommunication (IT) experts had earlier cautioned the Nigerian government about the dangers of investing so-much on what they described as a ‘white elephant’.

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