Africa CEO Forum Issues Warning: Satellite Internet Boom Threatens Digital Sovereignty and Public Revenue Across the Continent

At the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda on May 15, 2026, telecom executives, regulators, and policymakers — alongside Askya Investment Partners — released a major joint analysis warning that Africa's satellite internet expansion, driven by Starlink and Amazon Leo, risks eroding public revenues from telecom licenses, weakening local telecom operators, and undermining Africa's digital sovereignty. The report noted Africa has achieved the world's fastest international bandwidth growth (1,835 Tbps total, 24% CAGR 2021–2025) but only 27–43% of the population is online despite 87% mobile network coverage — illustrating that coverage expansion alone does not guarantee adoption. The forum called for unified African regulatory frameworks covering satellite operator revenue contribution, local ownership requirements, and shared infrastructure obligations under the theme 'The Scale Imperative: Why Africa Must Embrace Shared Ownership.' The declaration follows Starlink's rapid expansion across Africa in 2025–2026 and debates over whether satellite providers should be subject to the same universal service fund obligations as terrestrial operators.