Starlink satellites remain illegal in Namibia and South Africa, although they have been embraced in countries like Ghana and Mozambique.

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Namibia turned down a bid by billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink service to operate in the country, denying the satellite internet provider both a telecommunications service licence and access to radio spectrum because it doesn’t comply with local ownership rules.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia “resolved to decline” both applications, effectively blocking the US-based firm’s planned rollout of nationwide satellite internet services. The regulator published its decision in a government notice on Monday.

Starlink, which has no Namibian shareholding, didn’t obtain an exemption from rules that mandate minimum local ownership of 51%, the regulator said in a separate statement on Tuesday. The application also didn’t satisfy rules around national defence and public safety, it said.

The firm didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

The company had applied to use frequency bands to provide fixed satellite services across the southwest African nation and can seek reconsideration of the decision within 90 days under the Communications Act.

In 2024, Namibia ordered Starlink to immediately cease operations after people were found to be using the service illegally in the country. Demand for Starlink services in sub-Saharan Africa has soared in recent years as local operators often struggle to provide fast broadband internet, especially in areas far from cities, and in some cases, people have traded and activated the terminals illegally.

Many African nations — including Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo — have given in to pressure by Starlink to ease local-ownership requirements in a quest for fast and reliable access to the internet.

South Africa, where Musk was born, has been reviewing its rules to provide an alternative to 30% ownership requirement in the form of equity-equivalent programmes, in terms of which a company invests in services, businesses and schools run by black people without giving away any of its equity.

While Communication and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi has asked the local regulator to amend its rules to allow equity-equivalent investment programmes to count toward empowerment, the parliamentary committee overseeing the industry wants him to withdraw the policy directive.