Elon Musk's Starlink Makes Africa Debut With Nigeria Rollout

Nigeria has become the first African country to receive Starlink’s satellite broadband service.

What Happened: SpaceX, led by Twitter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, shared a link to a coverage map and made the announcement of its Nigerian foray on Monday. 

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, earlier said the country had achieved 100% broadband coverage post the licensing and operation of Starlink, reported Nairametrics — a local business, and financial news website.

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Why It Matters: Starlink commenced operations in Nigeria with few persons who pre-ordered hardware but the pricing makes it unaffordable for the masses, according to Nairametrics.

The report noted that the hardware for the service costs $600, and the service costs $43 a month. 

Trading Economics data indicates that the living wage in the African country stood at 43,200 NGN ($93.83) per month in 2018.

In October, Starlink made its Asia debut with the rollout of its service in Japan.

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