The Federal Government of Nigeria has revealed its discussions with SpaceX’s internet company, Starlink, to explore opportunities for creating jobs in Nigeria through local maintenance and production of its hardware. The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, shared this development on Sunday through his verified social media handle.
According to Dr. Tijani, the discussions took place on the sidelines of the ongoing International Telecommunication Union-World Radio Communication (ITU-WRC) Conference in Dubai. He stated that he had a meeting with Ryan Goodnight, the Senior Director of Global Licensing and activation of SpaceX, to deliberate on the prospects of Starlink creating a program to certify local installers and maintenance personnel in Nigeria. Additionally, they discussed the potential for contracts that would enable hardware startups to produce Starlink’s repeater boxes locally.
Dr. Tijani expressed his enthusiasm about the possibilities, stating, “Excellent conversation with Ryan Goodnight, Snr. Director, Global Licensing & Activation of @SpaceX on the sidelines of ITU-WRC 23, who shared that Nigeria is their biggest market in Africa. As demand for @Starlink continues to grow in Nigeria, we discussed connecting unserved and underserved Nigerians. I also mentioned the possibility of creating thousands of new jobs in Nigeria through initiatives like a certified installer/maintenance programme for Starlink and working with hardware startups to produce repeater boxes locally. We intend to encourage every tech company to invest and deepen our tech ecosystem.”
It is worth recalling that in January this year, Elon Musk announced the deployment of SpaceX in Nigeria.
