Amazon Leo enters South Africa, outmanoeuvring Starlink

Amazon will bring its Amazon Leo satellite internet service to South Africa in 2027, marking the company’s first satellite deal on the African continent. The tech giant will partner with local provider Herotel to connect a nation of 62 million people. Communications Minister Solly Malatsi appeared alongside the companies to announce the government-backed deal, though no financial terms were disclosed.

The entrance immediately highlights a stark divergence in strategy between Amazon and SpaceX’s Starlink. While Starlink operates in roughly two dozen African countries, it remains absent from the continent’s most advanced economy and the birthplace of Elon Musk. Musk has publicly refused to comply with South African regulations requiring foreign communications firms to sell a minority stake to Black or non-white owners before receiving a licence.

Musk has called these affirmative-action rules racist, while the government maintains they are necessary to redress apartheid inequalities. By contrast, Amazon has side-stepped the ideological battle, working within the regulatory framework through a local partnership. For European investors monitoring the global broadband race, this offers a clear lesson: market access in emerging economies hinges on pragmatic compliance rather than corporate obstinacy.

Amazon is still heavily outgunned in orbit. Starlink launched its first satellites in 2019 and now operates more than 10,000 across over 160 countries. Amazon, which only sent up its first low-orbit satellites last year, currently has just over 390 in service.

Yet the service, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is rapidly securing global footholds. Beyond South Africa, Amazon Leo has signed launch deals in Thailand, Kazakhstan, Australia, and several Latin American markets. The company is already preparing a wider African expansion using a second partner, Vanu.

The strategic value of these regions is immense. Africa alone holds 1.5 billion people, many in rural areas lacking fixed internet infrastructure. For European firms like Eutelsat, which merged with OneWeb to compete in this exact space, Amazon’s entry underscores a tightening race for emerging-market broadband. Securing these territories early will dictate the long-term winners of the satellite connectivity market.