Nigerians will henceforth begin to enjoy faster, more reliable and cheaper internet services with the commencement of Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which is now live in Nigeria.

Nigeria is the first African country to receive the service.

SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, announced Starlink’s plans to expand into Africa last year.

Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, has gone live in Nigeria, making it the first African country to receive service.

The company announced the development on its Twitter page on Monday.

Isa Ali Pantami, Nigeria’s minister of communications and digital economy, celebrated the milestone in a social-media post.

He tweeted: “We have made it again. @SpaceX thank you for hosting me in your Headquarters, USA in December, 2022 to complete the logistics for the deployment.”

SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, announced Starlink’s plans to expand into Africa last year. In May, he said Starlink had been approved to provide broadband internet in Nigeria and Mozambique.

Starlink operates in dozens of countries and has more than one million users. However, Musk said the service is losing money.

Musk said in October that Starlink was suffering from a lack of funds, in response to a Twitter user who referenced CNN’s report about SpaceX asking the Pentagon to pay for the service in Ukraine. He later said SpaceX had withdrawn the request for funding over Starlink in Ukraine.

SpaceX has provided the country with thousands of Starlink dishes since Russia invaded in February. The billionaire said in October that only 10,630 out of 25,300 Starlink terminals in Ukraine were paying for service.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for further comment made outside normal working hours.

Starlink seeks to deliver a global broadband network, using a constellation of Low Earth Orbit to provide high-speed internet coverage with the capacity to penetrate rural and geographically isolated areas.

Recently, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, stated that the country had achieved 100 per cent broadband coverage following the licensing and operation of Starlink.

He said, “Based on the National Broadband Plan, we were to have 90 per cent broadband coverage by December 2025. However, we recently gave a license to Starlink to provide services, and this has given us 100% coverage, about 3 years ahead of schedule.”

While Starlink has now commenced operations in Nigeria, there are concerns about how its high price will hinder the ability of citizens to access its services.