South Africa Pushes Policy Directive to Smooth Way for Starlink

South Africa’s government plans to push ahead with a policy directive that provides a workaround to Black-ownership requirements in the telecommunications industry, aiming to encourage Elon Musk’s Starlink and other satellite services to operate in the country.

The government asked the country’s telecoms regulator to allow for an equity equivalent program for the industry, according to a directive signed by Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. Such a program would grant operators like Starlink access to Africa’s largest market without ceding ownership.

The government had been negotiating a workaround that would ...