The venue for IGARSS 09 has been chosen as the University of Cape Town on the slopes of Table Mountain. The choice of Cape Town, the first time that IGARSS will be held on the African continent, represents a milestone in the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society’s strategic objective to broaden international participation, particularly in the developing countries. Awarding this Symposium to Africa is a tangible and committed step to engage African governments, institutions and individuals in the powerful global network of GRSS earth science and remote sensing specialists. At a stage when many regions of Africa are emerging from dark periods of civil strife and regional conflict, it is an appropriate moment to embrace the possibilities of remote sensing and associated sciences as tools in development, environmental protection, health, good governance, disease and poverty alleviation. A broad alliance of African states, ranging from Algeria to Nigeria to South Africa are cooperating in their new national programmes of space science and Earth Observation, with several small satellites launched or in the planning and construction stages. To meet the human resources needs of these new programmes, young scientists need to be introduced to and become part of the international remote sensing community. The holding of this IGRSS Symposium in Africa will provide a magnificent opportunity to foster these interactions.