To connect to and collaborate with the African earth observation community, KADI participated in the  7^th symposium of the African Group on Earth Observations (AfriGEO) which held in Swakopmund, Namibia from 18-23^rd September 2023. KADI was presented in the session, ‘Data and Infrastructure’ which focused on existing infrastructure, barriers to data sharing, best case scenarios of data access, and where we need to be going as Africa. The session outcomes were related to data democratization, data access and sharing policies and frameworks, increased discoverability of existing EO content and connecting the geospatial community.

A general overview of the KADI project was presented with specific contributions made during the feedback and discussion to the following topics:

• The need for increased collaboration and interoperability between in situ data and remote sensing data.
• The importance of African ownership and a co-creation approach in the identification and design of climate services for Africa.
• The need to strengthen and promote data sharing and open science principles.
• The need for different forms of collaboration (e.g. national, regional, sectoral, disciplines and institutions).

One of the takeaways from AfriGEO is the fact that funding for knowledge sharing is a huge barrier to build human capital in Africa. The solution requires policy buy in – creating the space and being actively involved in knowledge sharing initiatives.