Elon Musk’s Starlink has announced launching its high-speed internet services in Burundi after the president granted the company an official licence to operate within the country.

The licence was awarded to the satellite-based internet provider under the oversight of the Telecommunications Regulation and Control Agency (ARCT) of Burundi, with its Director-General responsible for implementing the decree.

A statement by the ARCT said the development marked a significant step toward improving internet connectivity, following the issuance of an operating licence in May 2024, granted through a presidential decree.

“This development marks a significant step forward in improving internet access for the people of Burundi,” the ARCT said.

Burundi, one of the world’s poorest countries, currently has one of the lowest rates of internet usage globally, largely due to high costs and limited infrastructure.

With the launch of the high-speed internet services, Burundi becomes the latest of 14 African nations to adopt Starlink’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, aiming to enhance satellite internet services across the country. The company is set to expand its operations to several additional countries by the end of 2024.

Starlink is now available in 15 African nations, following its recent launch in Zimbabwe. Other African countries that have gained access to Starlink include Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Rwanda, and Zambia.

Africa-centric asset financing platform, M-KOPA, has announced surpassing five million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa with two million of these customers coming on board in the past 15 months.

M-KOPA co-founder and CEO, Jesse Moore, who made the announcement, said the platform’s model has made affordable smartphones embedded with financial services available to ‘Every Day Earners’, the wide majority of African adults who earn their income daily but struggle to afford smartphones and typically fail to qualify for conventional financial services.

“We are thrilled to welcome our 5 millionth customer to M-KOPA this month. The scale of our operations and our positive impact on customers is what keeps us working hard to go even further. We’re just getting started; the opportunity for much larger impact and scale is right in front of us,” Moore said.

“To date, M-KOPA has supported its customer base with more than US $1.5 billion in financing. Starting with smartphone access, customers gain entry to the digital economy with an affordable daily repayment model, which fits their daily income and cash flow and makes it easier to manage.

“By leveraging rich payments data and proprietary AI-driven analytics, M-KOPA builds a credit record for each customer which forms the foundation for a long-term financial relationship for lower cost digital loans, affordable data subscriptions and medical insurance.”

Also speaking on the milestone,
M-KOPA’s Chief Product Officer Nena Sanderson, said:

“Our product and services build pathways to prosperity for our customers and agents, enabling them to overcome financial setbacks, generate income and progress towards the futures they aspire to.

“Our impact extends beyond our customers, reaching their families and communities, and contributing to building a more sustainable world.”