American big tech companies want to become Africa’s next internet providers.
Earlier this month, Amazon acquired an operating license to roll out its low-Earth orbit satellite broadband service, Amazon Leo (earlier called Project Kuiper), in Nigeria. The approval places Amazon in direct competition with Elon Musk’s Starlink, and indirectly against Meta and Google, which are building massive subsea cables.
Starlink already operates at scale in Nigeria, attracting thousands of subscribers who rely on satellite internet where fibre and mobile networks are unreliable or unavailable. Across Africa, Starlink is active in more than a dozen markets, often serving communities underserved by traditional telecoms.
Africa remains the least-connected region in the world.”
“Africa remains the least-connected region in the world, yet this is precisely what makes it one of the most attractive markets for global connectivity providers,” Temidayo Oniosun, founder and managing director at consulting firm Space in Africa, told Rest of World. “The scale of unmet demand means that virtually every major player sees Africa as a strategic growth market.”
Nigeria, as the most populous country on the continent, carries particular symbolic and commercial weight, Oniosun said.
In contrast to Europe and North America, where connectivity is well distributed, Africa still offers hundreds of millions of potential first-time users. Only about 38% of Africans were online in 2024, according to the International Telecommunication Union. This leaves more than 400 million people without internet access. Even where networks exist, usage remains constrained by high costs and poor service quality. Mobile broadband penetration in sub-Saharan Africa remains below 50%, while fixed broadband access is limited largely to major cities.
Control of infrastructure — not consumer apps — has become the strategic priority, Oniosun said.
That race is also playing out under the sea.
Meta’s 2Africa project, the world’s longest subsea cable system at roughly 45,000 kilometres (around 27,960 miles), is circling the continent with landing points across Africa. The cable is expected to expand bandwidth and lower wholesale data prices in markets long constrained by limited international capacity, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal.
Google’s Equiano cable has strengthened high-capacity links between Africa and Europe, particularly along the west coast, improving latency and resilience.
Microsoft, meanwhile, is partnering with governments and telecom operators to help connect more than 117 million Africans to distribute its airband package, powered by global communications company Viasat.
Oniosun believes an increase in the number of satellite operators would inevitably intensify competition, particularly on pricing.
“The entry of Starlink triggered noticeable shifts in user behavior, and with Amazon’s Leo constellation entering the market, competition is expected to deepen further,” he said. “From a consumer perspective, this price pressure should be beneficial, at least in the short to medium term.”
Questions of sovereignty remain critical. Most major connectivity providers operating in Africa are foreign, with traffic often routed through infrastructure outside the continent, raising legitimate security and governance concerns.
