SpaceX’s ambitious plan to blanket Africa with its Starlink satellite internet service is facing a reality check. While the service has expanded its footprint, its rollout is lagging significantly behind its own aggressive targets, revealing the complex challenges of operating on the continent.
As of December 2025, Starlink is live in 24 African nations—a notable increase of ten from the previous year. However, this achievement pales against the company’s initial roadmap. In December 2024, Starlink’s own map indicated plans to launch in 24 *new* African countries during 2025. This follows a similar pattern of underachievement in 2024, where it reached only a fifth of its target countries. By mid-December 2025, the map still optimistically—and inaccurately—showed 16 more African launches planned for a year that was effectively over.
The core impediments are twofold: regulatory navigation and data sovereignty concerns. Many African governments have stringent ownership laws designed to ensure local economic participation and control over data flows. SpaceX has struggled to adapt its direct-to-consumer, vertically integrated model to these requirements. Unlike legacy satellite operators like Viasat or Eutelsat, which often launch local subsidiaries or wholesale partnerships, Starlink has been reluctant to cede control or equity for its core residential and business products.
Estimated R2-billion investment awaits
This tension is most acute in South Africa, which stands as a conspicuous and isolated holdout in Southern Africa. While Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe have all launched, and Namibia had a planned 2025 date, South Africa remains in limbo with no launch date in sight. The primary roadblock is the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa’s) rule requiring telecoms licensees to have 30% equity owned by Historically Disadvantaged Individuals (HDIs)—a category encompassing black people, women, and people with disabilities.
Starlink’s proposed solution is not a partnership, but a policy change. The company is lobbying for the introduction of Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs) in the ICT sector. EEIPs allow multinationals to make substantial, direct investments in skills development, enterprise growth, and infrastructure in lieu of selling equity. They are already used in other sectors, like automotive and technology manufacturing, to balance foreign investment with empowerment goals.
To bolster its case, Starlink has put forward a substantial offer: free, uncapped, high-speed internet to 5,000 rural schools, valued at approximately R500 million. Coupled with additional infrastructure investments, the total proposed EEIP package is estimated at R2 billion. The company also notes it would collaborate with local ISPs on installation and maintenance, creating a secondary economic benefit. However, SpaceX is adamant: this offer is conditional on EEIPs being made available as a compliance pathway.
The process, however, is glacial. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies is still considering submissions on EEIPs. Even if approved, industry experts believe the earliest feasible implementation would be 2027, assuming no legal challenges or bureaucratic delays. This extended timeline creates a strategic opening for competitors. Latecomers like Amazon’s Project Kuiper (operating under the “Project Leo” constellation) or other ventures like SpaceSail, which may be more amenable to local partnerships, could establish market presence and brand loyalty long before Starlink arrives.
The South African impasse is a microcosm of a larger African story. Starlink’s patchy rollout map is a testament to the continent’s diverse and often challenging regulatory environments. While the service offers transformative potential for connectivity in underserved areas, its success is not guaranteed by technology alone. It hinges on a company’s willingness to adapt its model and a government’s flexibility in fostering innovation while protecting its policy objectives. The coming years will reveal whether Starlink’s stance is a principled strategy or a costly miscalculation in the race to connect Africa.
| Country | Estimated availability date |
|---|---|
| Algeria | No planned launch date |
| Angola | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Benin | Available |
| Botswana | Available |
| Burkina Faso | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Burundi | Available |
| Cabo Verde | Available |
| Cameroon | 2026 |
| Central African Republic | No planned launch date |
| Comoro Islands | 2026 |
| Chad | Available |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | Available |
| Djibouti | No planned launch date |
| Egypt | No planned launch date |
| Eritrea | No planned launch date |
| Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) | Available |
| Ethiopia | No planned launch date |
| Equatorial Guinea | 2026 |
| Gabon | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Gambia | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Ghana | Available |
| Guinea | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Guinea-Bissau | Available |
| Ivory Coast | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Kenya | Available |
| Lesotho | Available |
| Liberia | Available |
| Libya | No planned launch date |
| Madagascar | Available |
| Malawi | Available |
| Mali | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Mauritania | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Mauritius | 2026 |
| Mozambique | Available |
| Morocco | No planned launch date |
| Namibia | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Nigeria | Available |
| Niger | Available |
| Republic of Congo | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Rwanda | Available |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Senegal | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Seychelles | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Sierra Leone | Available |
| South Africa | No planned launch date |
| South Sudan | Available |
| Somalia | Available |
| Sudan | No planned launch date |
| Tanzania | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Togo | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Tunisia | Was 2025, now 2026 |
| Uganda | 2026 |
| Western Sahara | No planned launch date |
| Zambia | Available |
| Zimbabwe | Available |