FG to use Starlink for job creation- Tijani

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The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, has disclosed thousands of jobs can be created through initiatives like a certified installer/maintenance programme for Starlink and collaborating with hardware startups to produce repeater boxes locally.

The minister said on X (previously Twitter) that he told SpaceX’s Senior Director of Global Licencing and Activation, Ryan Goodnight, about it on the sidelines of the ongoing International Telecommunication Union-World Radio Communication Conference in Dubai on Sunday.

Tijani, who shared that Nigeria was now Starlink’s biggest market in Africa, said he discussed the issue of connecting unserved and underserved Nigerians and the possibility of creating new jobs with the SpaceX director.

He tweeted, “Excellent conversation with Ryan Goodnight, Snr. Director, Global Licensing and 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 spoke about the issue of 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. Our intention is to encourage every tech company to invest and deepen our tech ecosystem @elonmusk.”

According to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission, the firm, which officially launched in Nigeria in January 2023, now has 6,756 wireless Internet subscribers.

Nigeria was Starlink’s first African operational country and 47th globally.