Starlink is expanding into Africa. By the end of 2024, than half the continent will be connected to the satellite constellation owned and operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX. It promises high-speed internet even in remote regions. But where does that leave local providers?
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00:00Elon Musk can speed up the internet in Africa.
00:03The South African-born global tech mogul's Starlink satellite constellation
00:08already has a foothold on the continent.
00:12Will Musk's satellites benefit Africa or hold it back?
00:15Welcome to the flip side.
00:17Unlike conventional satellites, those that are owned and operated by Starlink
00:22are much closer to the surface of the Earth.
00:25Hence, they transmit much, much, much faster.
00:28In our own studies as well, we see that if you are looking into parts of Africa,
00:34for example, in Ghana, if you use Starlink,
00:37then your connection is significantly faster than if you were to use terrestrial internet.
00:42Starlink satellites are already hovering over 14 African countries
00:47and 13 more are on their way this year.
00:49Musk has also been courting leaders in Africa for further investment.
00:54He recently met up with the presidents of South Africa and Namibia.
00:58So, better internet access for rural areas.
01:01Sounds good in theory, right?
01:02But what will be the effect on Africa's own internet providers and the telecom sector?
01:08A foreign company coming in, doing the bare minimum,
01:13and then taking market share from other companies that have invested heavily in the continent
01:19and that are also providing jobs for, you know, thousands of people.
01:24Because, you know, Starlink does not invest in infrastructures in Africa.
01:28In fact, they don't really hire people.
01:31The few people that go working for them in Africa,
01:35they are mostly Americans that just come into Africa.
01:38They're not providing local jobs.
01:42You know, they're not building infrastructure.
01:44They're not investing in infrastructure.
01:46A lot of African countries have invested heavily into satellite communication structures.
01:51So, they are hesitant to give out licenses.
01:54Foreign companies have to adhere to local regulations.
01:58Cameroon even banned Starlink.
02:00Like, I know in Nigeria, for example,
02:02the telcos cannot just wake up tomorrow and increase price.
02:05But guess what?
02:06At the beginning of this month,
02:08Starlink woke up and they doubled the price of their services in Nigeria.
02:13Nigeria was the first country in Africa to sign up to Starlink in February 2023.
02:19Today, analysts say the Musk Enterprise is the fourth, or perhaps even the third,
02:24biggest internet provider in the country of more than 200 million people.
02:28And it's on a trajectory that could make it the leader.
02:32But soon enough, this might happen that they monopolize their entire market.
02:40And if you're dependent only on Starlink as your primary network operator,
02:44they might hike up prices.
02:46And right now, even the starting kit to set up Starlink is not affordable to everyone.
02:52The next couple of months will be defining because it's either Starlink is going to win
02:57and probably at some point gain monopoly of the market,
03:02or maybe African governments will start coming up with some regulatory
03:09challenges to ensure that the market is fair for everyone else.
03:12And that's the flip side.