Starlink, the satellite broadband provider operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is growing its presence in Africa.
As of May 2024, Starlink’s services are live in eight African countries, with more launches planned for the coming months.
Its high-speed, low-latency services are useful on a continent where many rural localities have poor or non-existent fixed and/or mobile network connectivity. The Starlink website also highlights its potential to act as a backup network in the event of natural disasters.
Background
SpaceX launched its first 60 Starlink low earth orbit (LEO) satellites in May 2019.
According to one website that tracks Starlink launches, as of May 15, 2024, there were 6,017 satellites in orbit, with more than 5,200 of those operational.
The firm has licenses to deploy around 12,000 satellites, and it’s been reported that Starlink could eventually increase its mega-constellation to more than 34,000 platforms.
Starlink reached the one million subscriber milestone in December 2022. A year later, it had around 2.3 million users.
Starlink reached the one million subscriber milestone in December 2022. A year later, it had around 2.3 million users.
Its services have been made available in more than 75 countries worldwide.
First Launches
After securing international gateway and ISP licenses from the Nigerian Communications Commission in May 2022, Starlink’s first African launch happened in Nigeria in February 2023.
The standard service plan costs NGN38,000 ($25) a month, with one-off hardware costs of NGN440,000 ($290). At launch, the hardware retailed at NGN800,000 ($528), but the price was almost halved in April 2024.
Planned Expansion
Starlink Launches in Africa
| Already Live | Planned Q2/Q3 2024 | Planned by End-2024 | |||
| Nigeria | Feb 2023 | Gambia | Q2 2024 | Mauritania | Q4 2024 |
| Rwanda | Mar 2023 | Lesotho | Q2 2024 | Uganda | Q4 2024 |
| Mozambique | Jun 2023 | Madagascar | Q2 2024 | Burkina Faso | 2024 |
| Kenya | Jul 2023 | Senegal | Q2 2024 | Burundi | 2024 |
| Malawi | Jul 2023 | Tanzania | Q2 2024 | Chad | 2024 |
| Zambia | Oct 2023 | Angola | Q3 2024 | Namibia | 2024 |
| Benin | Oct 2023 | Botswana | Q3 2024 | Togo | 2024 |
| Eswatini | Dec 2023 | Madagascar | Q3 2024 | Tunisia | 2024 |
| Zimbabwe | Q3 2024 | ||||
Source: TeleGeography's GlobalComms Database
Along with providing services directly to customers in Nigeria, in July 2023, Starlink signed an agreement with Africa Mobile Networks (AMN).
AMN is a UK-based firm that builds mobile base stations to serve remote communities and then leases capacity to mobile operators. It operates more than 1,500 base stations across Nigeria and is using Starlink terminals to provide data connectivity in areas without access to a fiber backbone.
Starlink’s second African launch came in March 2023 in Rwanda.
A month before its commercial switch-on in March, Starlink was issued its operating license and introduced a pilot service covering 500 schools. The satellite broadband provider had 3,448 subscriptions at the end of 2023, according to the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority.
These initial two African market launches were followed by six more through the course of 2023—in Mozambique, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Benin, and Eswatini.
These initial two African market launches were followed by six more through the course of 2023—in Mozambique, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Benin, and Eswatini.
In September 2023, Namibia-based telco Paratus Group signed a reseller agreement with Starlink, allowing Paratus to offer satellite broadband services to its clients across Africa. The agreement initially covered Mozambique, Kenya, Rwanda, and Nigeria, before being rolled out to more countries.
Not All Plain Sailing
With a number of regulatory hurdles in its way, things have not been entirely trouble-free for Starlink in Africa.
In November 2023, the company was forced to push back its planned launch in Angola from Q4 2023 to Q3 2024, due to a delay in obtaining the requisite operating concessions from the Angolan Institute of Communications (Instituto Angolano das Comunicacoes).
In January 2024, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) warned nationals that Starlink was not yet licensed and the use of its services in Zimbabwe was therefore illegal. Some locals had been signing up for a roaming plan in neighboring countries where the service was live and importing equipment from abroad.
A few months later, POTRAZ went on to order the U.S. firm to block connectivity within Zimbabwe’s borders. It was eventually confirmed that Starlink applied for a license from POTRAZ in April 2024.
A similar situation emerged in several other African countries where Starlink was not yet licensed, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Botswana, South Africa, Cameroon, and Sudan.
With more than 15 new countries due to be added to its African footprint in the remainder of 2024, however, the teething troubles for Starlink on the continent may now be out of the way.
Pete Bell
Pete Bell is a Research Analyst for TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database and also contributes to the daily CommsUpdate newsletter. He has a particular interest in wireless broadband and was responsible for TeleGeography’s 4G Research Service until it was integrated into GlobalComms.