Key Highlights
- After a year of approval, Starlink’s operation is now available in Sierra Leone.
- Sierra Leone is the 100th connected country to Starlink’s operations.
In June 2023, Sierra Leone became the fifth African country to grant Starlink an operational license. At the time, David Moinina Sengeh, the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and Chief Innovation Officer of Sierra Leone, announced via his X page that the country had approved the operations of Starlink services. He emphasised that this approval marks a significant step forward in achieving the goal of universal connectivity across Sierra Leone and transforming education.
In a personal engagement, the government’s Chief Minister and former Education Minister, Sengeh, revealed in May 2024 that he had met with senior staff of Starlink and SpaceX in Texas. Accompanied by another minister and a director general of the country’s National Communications Authority (NaTCA), who joined remotely, the meeting paved the way for the Internet connectivity service to go live a month.
The news was shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), where Elon Musk announced Starlink is now available in 100 countries and connecting over three million individuals.
Source: https://spaceinafrica.com/2024/06/13/spacexs-starlink-licensed-in-sierra-leone/
