It was my first time when I participate in The State of the Map Africa (SotM Africa) conference which is a bi-annual regional conference that celebrates the culture of open mapping, open data, GIS, and its impact across Africa. This year the conference was built on a new strategy envisioned for OpenStreetMap Africa as a renewed, strong, and growing network, and as part of the global open mapping movement. especially on the theme of leaving no one behind and underrepresented communities as well as emerging from a global pandemic. I could say the conference explored the topics Beyond mapping and Reusing OpenStreetMap data/FOSS4G. where I learned how the community can make use of available Geodata for personal and institutional development.

I found the whole event including the *panel discussions, *the marathon, *and the lightning talks really exciting. Finally, During this conference, I came to learn about the Open Mapping Hub ESA and the roles the hub has played to expand the Mapping communities in the region through the funding of various projects like the Open Cities Project in collaboration with other international institutions.