Technology Report.Nigeria has launchedthe first satellitedesigned and built by Africans.The NigeriaSat-X is oneof two Earth observation satellitesthat the country recently launched.These are Nigeria's thirdand fourth satellites.The NigeriaSat-X is the resultof a training agreementbetween the National Space Researchand Development Agency and a companycalled Surrey Satellite Technology.Twenty-six Nigerian engineersattended a training programover an eighteen-month periodat the satellite developer's officesin the United Kingdom.Steve Young is head of businessdevelopment for the company.He says the skillsthat the young Nigerian scientistshave learned will help more thanjust their country's space program.STEVE YOUNG: "You are now beginningto train a corpsof very experienced engineers,high-technology technicians,and people who are goingto benefit the wider economy.That also is a very good effectthat the Nigerians get in investingin high-tech programs.They've got to develop their economy,and that's one of the waysthey do that is by doing this."The cameras on the satellitescan show details of objectsas small as twoand a half meters across.These images will be usedto map territory and helpwith city planning.The pictures can also providevaluable information about cropand land conditions, and assistin disaster relief efforts.Steve Young saysthis kind of informationis often lackingin developing countries.STEVE YOUNG: "We often take itfor granted in industrialized nationsthat we have all this information,we have accurate maps,we have land registries,we have planning systems,we have precision agriculture systems.We have all this stuff in place,but for a lot of countries,they don't."In another technology development,Ghana has become the latestAfrican country to investin a biometric voter registration system.Such systems are usedto confirm the identity of voterswhen they register to vote.These systems commonly use measureslike fingerprints or face recognition.Ghanaian election officials saythe forty-five-million-dollar systemshould be in operation in timefor next's year's presidential election.Christopher Fomunyoh is Westand Central Africa directorfor the Washington-basedNational Democratic Institute.He says a trustworthy voter listis one way to protect elections.Christopher Fomunyoh: "There's a sensethat once you get the voter rolls in order,once the voter rolls reflectthe electorate or the populationthat is of voting agein the appropriate constituencies,then the management of the restof the election processis already fraud-proof in a way."But Mr. Fomunyoh says a biometric systemis only one of many tools neededto win the trust of voters.Election disputes have ledto deadly violencein several African countriesin the past year,including Ivory Coast,Guinea and Nigeria.And that's the VOA Special EnglishTechnology Report,written by June Simms.