FG mulls plan with Starlinks on jobs’ creation in Nigeria

The Federal Government of Nigeria says it engaged Elon Musk’s internet company, Starlink, on the need to set up programs that will create jobs in Nigeria through local maintenance and production of its hardware.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Sunday through his verified X handle.

He said discussions happened on the sideline of the ongoing International Telecommunication Union-World Radio Communication (ITU-WRC) Conference in Dubai.

Tijani said he met with the Senior Director of Global Licensing and activation of SpaceX, Ryan Goodnight.

He said the discussion centred on how Starlink could create a program to certify local installers and maintenance personnel in Nigeria and contracts for hardware startups to produce Starlink’s repeater boxes locally.

“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,” the Minister added.

Recall that in January this year, Elon Musk announced the deployment of SpaceX in Nigeria.