The Africa Space Expo (ASPEX), held last week in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, marked a turning point for the continent's space sector by focusing not on rockets and astronauts but on practical applications in agriculture, climate resilience, and maritime security, bringing together start-ups, researchers, and investors. The event yielded concrete agreements, including Ivory Coast becoming the 75th signatory of the Artemis Accords (an international framework for space exploration and development) and Angola signing a cooperation letter with the UAE. However, the expo also underscored a persistent challenge facing countries like Ghana — where a growing cluster of space institutions and private firms such as Galaxy Aerospace Ghana are deploying satellite data for crop monitoring and coastal erosion tracking — namely the shortage of state-backed investment, manufacturing capacity, and local infrastructure needed to move Africa from consuming space technology to building it.