Airtel Africa partners with Spacex’s Starlink to deliver high-speed satellite internet across Africa, enhancing connectivity for enterprises, schools, health centres, and rural communities.
The collaboration explores rural cellular backhaul and infrastructure sharing to boost digital inclusion.
Starlink’s rollout with Airtel Africa will start in nine countries—Nigeria, Chad, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Niger, Madagascar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—focusing on areas with significant connectivity gaps.
According to Statista, about 600 million Africans, roughly 50% of the continent’s population, lack internet access as of 2025.
Airtel Africa’s CEO, Sunil Taldar, emphasised the partnership’s role in advancing Africa’s digital economy with reliable, affordable connectivity.
“Our partnership with SpaceX advances Africa’s digital economy by delivering reliable, affordable satellite connectivity to individuals, businesses, and remote communities.”
“Next-generation satellite connectivity will ensure that every individual, business, and community has reliable and affordable voice and data connectivity even in the most remote and currently underserved parts of Africa,” said Sunil Taldar, CEO of Airtel Africa.
SpaceX’s Chad Gibbs highlighted the innovative approach to expanding Starlink’s transformative benefits through Airtel’s established network.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Airtel to expand Starlink’s transformative benefits across Africa. Partnering with a telecom leader like Airtel complements our offerings and enhances connectivity in over 20 African markets.”
Starlink is licensed to operate in 9 of the 14 countries where Airtel Africa is present. With a 163.1 million subscriber base,
