Elon Musk’s Starlink Partners Jumia to Expand Services in Africa

Billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite company, Starlink, will partner with e-commerce firm, Jumia Technologies AG, to expand its satellite broadband services in Africa, Bloomberg has reported.

According to Jumia Chief Commercial Officer, Hisham El Gabry, in an interview, the e-commerce firm would sell Starlink’s satellite terminals and other kits in some African nations, starting with Nigeria in coming weeks.

“We have seen Starlink do these type of deals in Southeast Asia and South America, and now Africa will also have the opportunity to access the fast-speed internet services,” he said.

“The plan is to start selling through our sites and agents in Nigeria this month, and then Kenya”, El Gabry added.

The partnership with Jumia will help Starlink sell terminals in areas that lack formal addresses and city mapping.

In January, Nigeria became the first African country to receive Starlink services.

Starlink is an internet service by Musk’s SpaceX to improve internet coverage in rural and unreached areas globally.

Starlink satellites are over 60 times closer to Earth than traditional satellites, resulting in lower latency and the ability to support services typically not possible with traditional satellite internet.