Market feasibility study on satellite-enabled road condition monitoring in Zambia and wider low- and middle-income country settings.
Overview
SAHEL – Satellite Assessment for Highways and Environment in LMICs – examined whether vehicle-mounted low-cost sensing, satellite positioning and satellite communications could support more frequent and affordable road condition monitoring in Zambia. The six-month study considered market demand, regulatory and legal conditions, the business environment, financial feasibility and routes to market.
Objective
To determine whether an affordable satellite-enabled road-monitoring service could be adopted and sustained in Zambia and adapted to other low- and middle-income countries.
Work undertaken
The project combined desk research, stakeholder engagement and analysis of market need, regulation, institutional risks, financial scenarios and market-entry options, working with a local Zambian partner. It was a market-feasibility study and did not develop or deploy a complete operational hardware system.
Outputs and findings
Outputs included market research, regulatory and intellectual-property analysis, business-environment and risk assessment, financial feasibility, market strategy and a final feasibility report. The work identified a credible need and development pathway while documenting institutional, funding, governance and delivery constraints for later phases.
Contribution to Hodos Media
The SAHEL study connects the earlier OurEO work to SatComBox by establishing the Zambia-specific market and institutional evidence required for a more detailed ESA technical feasibility study.
Funding acknowledgement
This project was supported through the Eureka / Innowwide programme.