Only five countries in Africa have resident members of the 1AU, and in some there are, quite literally, only one or two. They are isolated (communication with other countries is often difficult), poorly equipped and poorly financed --some have no current journals at all. Most of Africa faces terrible problems, so it is hardly surprising that our colleagues there have their difficulties. Astronomers are useful in developing countries, however, especially as educators, so we can help the whole continent by helping our own colleagues.

One major problem in Africa in general is to convince governments and agencies that astronomy is relevant to Africa. Attention has been focussed on technology transfer, neglecting science and research. This attitude encourages the continued dependence on industrialized countries.

In Nigeria there has been some success in projecting the idea that Space Science does not just mean remote sensing, but that basic space science, i.e. astronomy and astrophysics, cosmology, planetary science etc. is important and necessary. Evidence of this is that Nigeria’s expert committee on space policy recommended that one of three proposed National Centres should be for basic space science, laying emphasis on fundamental physics, astronomy and astrophysics, solarterrestrial interactions and their influence on climate, planetary and atmospheric studies. In addition, the Government of Nigeria hosted the Third UN/ESA Workshop on Basic Space Science in October, 1993.

Astronomy in Algeria is linked to the Algiers Observatory which is the only place where there is any astronomical activity. The Observatory was built in 1889 and was an important contributor to the famous Carte du del project. After independence, because there were so few Algerian astronomers and the site had deteriorated, the activity of the Observatory slowed down significantly.

In 1980, the year of the violent El-Ansam earthquake, a decision was taken, on the initiative of the present director (M. Benhallou, Professor of Seismology) to create an Algerian earthquake-surveillance network. This led to the creation of the research centre CRAAG (Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Geophysique) in which I’Observatoire d’Alger and the Institut de Physique du Globe have been merged. Thus, the Algiers Observatory has become more and more devoted to geophysical research. Towards the end of the 1980s, a group of Algerian astronomers, educated in foreign universities, joined CRAAG. The most recent recruit came in 1991. Today, the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics contains ten members—nearly half the total number of Algerian astronomers.

The 74-inch (1.8m) telescope of Kottamia Observatory is the largest telescope in North Africa and the Middle East. It stands on a plateau 485m above sea-level and 70km to the east of Cairo. The latitude is 25° 55’.9 N and the longitude 31° 49’.5E. The telescope is of conventional type, having Newtonian (f/4.9), Cassegrain (f/18) and coudí (f/28.9) foci; it was built by Grubb-Parsons (U.K.). The main mirror is of Duran 50 glass, and has a clear aperture of 74 inches (1.8m) and a focal length, for its paraboloidal surface, of 360 inches (9.2m). The secondary mirrors are of fused quartz. The telescope is provided with a Newtonian camera, a single-channel photoelectric photometer, a Cassegrain spectrograph comprising two cameras with dispersions of 100 Amm−1 and 48 Amm−1 at 4800A and a coude spectrograph with two cameras allowing dispersions of 20Amm−1 and 6Amm−1. A four-component correcting lens has been supplied to be mounted at the Newtonian focus, in order to reduce the effect of coma on photographic observations.

In the last twenty-five years, more than 100 astronomers have graduated from two astronomical departments in the Kingdom: one at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh and the other in King Abdulaziz university (KAU) in Jeddah. About 15% to 20% of those graduated are now working in fields related to astronomy, among them five with Ph.D. degrees and three with M.Sc. degrees. Most of the other astronomy graduates are teaching mathematics, physics or general science in schools.

The total number of academic staff in the two universities is ten Ph.Ds (five Saudis and five from abroad) and five research assistants, with no post-graduate students. Each department has a Celestron 14-inch (approx. 0.35m) with photo-counters, a 15-cm coudé refractor, solar laboratory, small planetarium and astronomical measuring instruments. In addition, KAU has a CCD camera, while KSU has a double telescope with 45cm Ritchey-Chrétien optics and a 24cm Schmidt telescope. All these observational facilities are located near the universities, where light pollution is very high and limits the observations. There is a plan to move the KSU double telescope away from Riyadh. Because of a lack of students and Saudi teaching staff, and cuts in the budget for universities, it is planned to turn the two astronomy departments into groups in the respective physics departments.

This note reviews those aspects of astronomy in South Africa that may be useful for the support of astronomical development on the rest of the African continent.

Optical and infrared astronomy is largely consolidated at the Sutherland site of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), about 300 km from Cape Town. The administrative and technical headquarters of this institution occupy the buildings of the old Royal Observatory (founded in 1820) in Cape Town. In Cape Town there is a twin 18/24 inch (0.45/0.6m) refractor and an 18-inch (0.45m) photometric reflector still operational. At Sutherland the 74-inch (1.8m Radcliffe) reflector is equipped for spectroscopy, CCD imaging and IR photometry. Newtonian and coudé foci are available but rarely used. Also at Sutherland there are 40-inch, 30-inch and 20-inch telescopes (approx. 1m, 0.75m and 0.5m) used primarily for CCD imaging (40-inch), optical and infrared photometry (30-inch) and UVBRI standard photometry (20-inch). An automatic photoelectric telescope (30-inch aperture) is nearing completion. Observing conditions at Sutherland provide about 50% photometric time.

We should like to report on the Network of Oriental Robotic Telescopes, otherwise the ORT network. Our objective is non-stop observations of variable stars by collaboration with other networks of automated photometric telescopes, complementary to the ORT network in longitude and latitude intervals, such as the GNAT in the U.S.A., the Chilean cordillera stations, the South African stations, etc. As a first step we will deal with photometric telescopes, then we will extend them to spectroscopy.

From 12-year archives of meteorological satellites, it appeared that sites located around the north latitude from 15° to 35° and from 10° west to 110° east in longitude have high-quality astronomical conditions with a significant annual number of clear nights. Such sites involve Islamic countries from Morocco to the western deserts of China. In addition to their astronomical history, the Islamic countries are suitable because they have high mountains in semi-desert areas, i.e. a clear sky with low telluric absorption. The final site selection will be based upon local astronomical tests, such as seeing and scintillation measurements.