According to industry reports, Niger’s ruling military junta has struck a deal with US billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink to expand coverage in the poorly connected country.
According to the Electronic Communications Regulation and Mail Authority (ARCEP), the vast desert nation’s internet penetration rate is currently 32 per cent.
Nigerien communication and digital economy minister Sidi Mohamed Raliou said on state television that Starlink would bring broadband coverage to 80 to 100 per cent of the territory.
Starlink’s network of low-Earth orbit satellites can provide internet access to remote locations or areas that normal communications infrastructure does not reach.
“Niger will benefit from this cutting-edge, high-speed technology at a very low cost,” Raliou said on the television channel Tele Sahel without detailing the content of the deal.
The announcement came just two weeks after Liberia issued Starlink a one-year provisional licence to begin operating in November.
Mali’s junta, a day prior, had also lifted a ban on importing and selling Starlink satellite internet kits for six months after prohibiting them over fears armed groups could use them.
ARCEP had outlawed the sale of Starlink kits, which consist of a router, a receiving antenna and a power supply, following the July 2023 coup in Niger.
Telephone communication networks and online access in conflict-ridden neighbours Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso are frequently sabotaged by various militias affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
