The federal government has taken the drive to domesticate the operations of Startlink in Nigeria to the international frontline.
Making this known on his X handle, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, disclosed that he had engaged Starlink Founder, Elon Musk at the sideline of the ongoing International Telecommunication Union-World Radio Communication (ITU-WRC) Conference in Dubai on the need to set up programs that will create jobs in Nigeria through local maintenance and production of its hardware.
While he did not specify the details of the discussion, he is optimistic that the satellite internet company will create a program to certify local installers and maintenance personnel in Nigeria, and contracts for hardware startups to produce Starlink’s repeater boxes locally.
SpaceX launched operations in Nigeria in January 2023. The launch was announced by Elon Musk.
Tijani said he met with the Senior Director of Global Licensing and activation of SpaceX, Ryan Goodnight.
“Excellent conversation with Ryan Goodnight, Snr. Director, Global Licensing & Activation of @SpaceX on the sidelines of ITU-WRC 23, who shared that Nigeria is their biggest market in Africa. As demand for @Starlink continues to grow in Nigeria, we discussed connecting unserved and underserved Nigerians.
“I also mentioned the possibility of creating thousands of new jobs in Nigeria through initiatives like a certified installer/maintenance programme for Starlink and working with hardware startups to produce repeater boxes locally.
“We intend to encourage every tech company to invest and deepen our tech ecosystem,” the Minister posted.
