Namibia’s communications regulator has chosen to hold firm to the country’s empowerment objectives, denying Starlink’s application to operate in the country, due to a lack of compliance with local ownership rules. Starlink’s Namibian entity has no local shareholders.
Elon Musk’s refusal to comply with such rules has meant the Starlink service remains unavailable in a number of African countries, including South Africa.
Ironically, in the US, where Starlink is based, laws under the Federal Communications Commission cap foreign ownership of telecoms operations at 25%.
In a recent government gazette, the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) noted that the percentage of stock “owned by Namibian citizens or Namibian companies controlled by Namibian citizens” in Starlink Internet Services Namibia stood at 0%.
Starlink’s lack of compliance with a 51% local-ownership requirement in Namibia is one of the reasons cited by the regulators for refusing to grant the operating licence.
The law does provide information & communication technology minister Emma Theofilus the authority to exempt Starlink from this requirement, however, that exemption was not granted.
This points to the Namibian government seeing more value in preserving local ownership of telecoms versus the need to provide reliable internet connectivity to far-flung and rural areas where mobile and fibre operators have little incentive to invest in infrastructure.
Starlink had been hoping that public support for its service would be enough to sway the regulator.
In a letter to CRAN, seen by Business Day, Starlink director for market access Ben MacWilliams said: “The overwhelming public support for Starlink’s application clearly demonstrates Namibians’ urgent demand for innovative, high-speed internet to bridge the digital divide, empower rural communities and fuel economic growth.”
“With over 98% of public comments in support of Starlink’s application, there is clear public interest from a broad section of Namibians for CRAN to rapidly approve the application, enabling Starlink to deliver immediate, life-changing benefits in alignment with Namibia’s digital transformation priorities.”
As in Namibia, the company has been driving a campaign to garner public support for its services to be greenlighted in South Africa.
In January, Starlink upped the ante, urging potential customers to pressure local watchdog, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), to change empowerment regulations in its favour.
The company has created an email template that potential customers can send to Icasa with the aim of drawing public support through a petition for its cause.
At present, the rules around who can acquire a licence to provide electronic communications services or to operate a network require a minimum of 30% shares to be in the hands of historically disadvantaged individuals.
This comes a few months after the satellite internet provider made a submission to the communications and digital technologies department, supporting communications minister Solly Malatsi’s policy directive, first issued in May 2025, to allow Starlink to bypass the ownership requirement and instead spend R2bn on local infrastructure.
It makes sense that Starlink and parent SpaceX, founded by Musk, support Malatsi’s move. South African-born Musk’s biggest gripe with BEE laws is having to give up a portion of his operation in the country, insisting he will not abide by this requirement.
The Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes allow qualifying multinationals to meet empowerment obligations through alternatives to 30% ownership, “such as investing in local suppliers, enterprise and skills development, job creation, infrastructure support, research and innovation, digital inclusion initiatives and funding for SMMEs”.
Malatsi said he had weighed the views and submissions from various telecoms industry players and other stakeholders.
Even then, the minister has been under fire over the move, largely seen as a way to allow Musk’s company to operate in South Africa without having to give equity in terms of BEE.
Shortly after Malatsi’s gazette in December, parliament’s portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies rejected the minister’s move, with chair Kusele Sangoni-Diko issuing a scathing response. “These policy directives are an affront to the centuries-old fight for equity and redress by the black majority in this country,” she said. — Business Day
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