Nairobi, Kenya- Uganda might just be the next African nation to plug into Elon Musk’s satellite-powered internet revolution.
President Yoweri Museveni revealed this week that he held a “productive meeting” with representatives from Starlink, the SpaceX-owned company that’s reshaping global internet access—one low-Earth orbit at a time.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Museveni praised Starlink’s vision of affordable, high-speed internet for hard-to-reach communities.
“They are welcome,” he wrote, signaling potential openness to a game-changing tech partnership in a country where digital connectivity still feels like a luxury in many regions.
Starlink has been on a steady push across the continent, with recent launches in Somalia and Lesotho following earlier rollouts in Nigeria and Kenya.
But Uganda, with its patchy coverage and public frustration over unreliable and costly services, stands out as a particularly ripe candidate for Musk’s satellite network.
The country’s internet market is largely dominated by telecom giants like MTN Uganda and Airtel, leaving little room for competition.
Many consumers have long complained that while mobile networks are everywhere, real broadband speed and reliability are hard to come by—especially outside major towns.
And that’s exactly the kind of environment Starlink was designed for. Unlike traditional ISPs, Starlink doesn’t rely on ground infrastructure like fiber-optic cables.
Instead, it beams internet from a constellation of satellites orbiting just a few hundred miles above Earth, making remote villages just as connected as capital cities—at least in theory.
But the interest from both sides is unmistakable. Starlink sees an opportunity to continue its expansion into underserved African markets, while Uganda sees a chance to break free from its internet bottlenecks.
It’s not just about streaming smoother YouTube videos or faster WhatsApp calls—though those would be nice.
Better internet could transform everything from healthcare access in remote clinics to digital classrooms in rural schools and e-commerce for small businesses struggling to get online.
Whether Starlink lands in Uganda next month or next year, one thing is clear: the conversation has begun, and the appetite for change is growing.
For now, Uganda is watching closely as Somalia sets up its Starlink dishes and connects a new chapter in Africa’s internet story.
