Nigeria and Rwanda are the first African countries to sign NASA’s Artemis Accords, an agreement between 23 nations to adhere to a set of rules regarding space exploration and the economic development of other worlds. Participation in the NASA-led Artemis program not a prerequisite for signing the Artemis Accords. However, American officials strongly implied that the two countries would, in due course, become partners in the effort to return astronauts to the moon and eventually to Mars. While both Nigeria and Rwanda have space agencies, neither country is a well-known space power. Even so, why did they sign the Artemis…