With a large landmass of 11.7 million square miles, Africa has been a challenging place to set up satellite services. But that is changing. As of September, 2025, more than 21 African countries have established space programs and 18 have launched at least one satellite, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. Now the real work of digital inclusion, enterprise application, and national development connecting millions of Africans begins, industry experts shared during SATShow Week.<\/p>\n
Africa is one of the fastest growing satellite markets in the world with limited terrestrial infrastructure and growing demand for connectivity. African nations and companies have launched a combined total of 65 satellites, with over 120 additional satellites in development and expected to be launched by 2030.<\/p>\n
\u201cSatellite services will be the main product driving the market in Africa in the next five to 10 years,\u201d Jane Nkechi Egerton-Idehen, CEO of Nigerian satellite operator Nigcomsat<\/strong> said. \u201cFor a population of over 1 billion, there is less than 50% broadband penetration. There\u2019s still a need to breach that divide. It is still an interesting market with a huge potential, but growth will definitely come from broadband.\u201d<\/p>\n There were about 100,000 terminals in service in Africa about four years ago, according to Anshu Vij, managing director of EMEA, for Hughes Network Systems<\/strong>. They were capacity constrained. They were not going to operate. \u201cToday, there are over half a million subscribers in Africa on satellite product.\u201d<\/p>\n Because of the African terrain, service delivery is sometimes difficult, Vij said. It used to be the case that only one terminal could be installed in a day, but the technology has improved and terminals can be much more quickly deployed. <\/p>\n Vij believes that service distributor partnerships both in government and enterprise are a key driver to grow broadband access in Africa. <\/p>\n Egerton-Idehen agreed that working in partnership with the government is key, adding that many governments in Africa are focused on digital access and digital economy. \u201cIn Nigeria, we want to have people have access to government e-services, like ID cards and international passports,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the truth is that it\u2019s easier in the urban areas, because that\u2019s where there\u2019s access. In the rural areas, there is no access. Over 70% of the citizens are in the rural areas. So governments are now forced to create access in those areas so citizens can access those services.\u201d <\/p>\n There will be an election in Nigeria later this year, and officials are working toward electronic transfer of the election results. \u201cThat means in almost every local government area we need access, but we still don\u2019t have that. So there are development opportunities there,\u201d Egerton-Idehen said.<\/p>\n Governments remain the largest clients of satellite services, she added.<\/p>\n Jean-Phillipe Gillet, president of the Fixed and Maritime vertical of SES<\/strong>, said the mission is to provide satellite as complementary to terrestrial network. \u201cTo do that, you need to reform the edge,\u201d he said. \u201cSatellite has always been on the edge when you have absolutely no other solution. It\u2019s expensive, it\u2019s difficult to deploy. You need to rethink being satellite connectivity as part of the edge, part of the core network, really expanding.\u201d<\/p>\n But Egerton-Idehen, a former satellite engineer, questioned why satellite has been expensive to deploy, calling attention to expensive, proprietary terminals.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons is because it\u2019s been a closed off system. I think that has been a weakness. And in Africa, it\u2019s a big issue. Users will buy your terminal. But if anything happens, you have to buy another terminal to use the same service. Why does the terminal have to cost more than $500, when the segment of the market we are trying to serve, the rural areas, is the segment that cannot afford $500 for a terminal?\u201d<\/p>\n Gillet said SES\u2019s main channel to market is to provide services to mobile network operators, citing a specific partnership Africa Mobile Networks, which operates in deep rural areas where less than 2,00o people may live in a village. There\u2019s business to be found in rural areas, Gillet stressed. \u201cWhen you make money, you can scale it, because that means you\u2019re able to raise more funding in order to deploy,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n While there are challenges to gaining deeper penetration in the African satellite market, Egerton-Idehen sees challenges as opportunities. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is a pent-up demand in Africa,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s still a market that\u2019s fully untapped. It\u2019s high risk, high reward. If you do have an appetite for risk, Africa is the market that is calling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With a large landmass of 11.7 million square miles, Africa has been a challenging place to set up satellite services. But that is changing. As of September, 2025, more than 21 African countries have established space programs and 18 have launched at least one satellite, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. 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