South Africa: Starlink strengthens efforts to bypass local ownership
October 10th 2025
South Africa, which was previously expected to be one of the first African countries where Starlink would launch its services, is still waiting. The company is already present in around twenty countries on the continent, including Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, and Benin.
Starlink continues its efforts to enter the South African market without having to transfer 30% of its capital to historically disadvantaged individuals, as required by the telecommunications regulator. Capitalizing on investment matching programs offered by the Department of Communications, the company recently announced its intention to establish a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE)-compliant company, complementing existing local commitments.
The initiative was revealed by Ryan Goodnight, Starlink’s senior director of market access, on Tuesday, October 7, at the annual general meeting of the Internet Service Providers Association of South Africa (ISPA), according to local media. He added that the entity will be created once the regulator amends the telecoms licensing framework.
“We are creating our own entity in the country and seeking our own licenses to become a local internet service provider. This means we pay local taxes, we pay the same regulatory fees as all other internet service providers… and we are also subject to all local laws,” he said, according to ITWeb .
Other initiatives include a commitment of 500 million rand ($29.15 million) already earmarked to provide free broadband internet access to 5,000 schools, or about 2.4 million students. The company also plans to invest nearly 2 billion rand to build local infrastructure, collaborate with South African internet providers to install and maintain school equipment, and adopt an open access model.
According to Mr. Goodnight, “Starlink has been interested in providing high-speed internet to South Africa since the deployment of its constellation and the launch of its services .” The rainbow nation, home country of Elon Musk, owner of Starlink, had a population of approximately 64 million in 2024. According to data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the internet penetration rate in the country reached 75.7% in 2023. Moreover, fixed internet adoption is growing rapidly, from approximately 1.5 million subscribers in 2020 to 2.7 million in 2024, according to ICASA. This demand that Starlink could capture, notably by leveraging the ubiquity of its network, an advantage over the fiber optic access providers currently in vogue in the country.
It should be noted, however, that Starlink’s entry into the country will depend on the approval of the draft directive on investment equivalence programs proposed in May. This project is all the more sensitive as it has been criticized by some industry players and members of the political class, who consider it a circumvention of existing rules. The ISPA, for its part, had insisted that Starlink be subject to the same requirements as its members. Despite these reservations, the proposal received the support of President Cyril Ramaphosa. Moreover, industry experts have stated that even if it is approved, its implementation could take up to two years.
As a reminder, Starlink is already present in 150 countries around the world, including around twenty in Africa since its market entry in January 2023. It is notably active in Nigeria, Rwanda, and Kenya. South Africa, however, remains largely absent from the company’s map in Africa, particularly in the southern region, where Starlink is already established in Lesotho, eSwatini, Mozambique, Madagascar, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The company plans to launch its services in Namibia and Angola this year. For the Rainbow Nation, “the service launch date is unknown at this time.”
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