In the middle of a government broadcast, the news went like a ripple. The Minister of Digital Transition and Technological Innovation, Djibril Ouattara, recently confirmed in the Gouv'Talk of the Government Information and Communication Center (CICG) the issuance of a ministerial decree authorizing the commercial deployment of Starlink throughout the Ivorian territory. This authorization did not arise out of nowhere. The Telecommunications/ICT Regulatory Authority of Côte d'Ivoire (ARTCI) had already laid the groundwork on September 25, 2025, by granting Starlink Network CIV, via its decision no. 2025-1301, the right to exploit radio frequencies via non-geostationary satellites. The regulator thus made Côte d'Ivoire the first country in West Africa to grant such a license.

The current authorization, for a provisional duration of twelve months, will serve as a trial phase before the definitive granting of a full license. The direct-to-device technology will allow users to automatically switch to satellite in the event of a failure of traditional mobile networks. The deployment will primarily target rural and isolated areas, as part of the National Rural Connectivity Program (PNCR), which aims to increase the internet coverage rate from 95% to 98%. With this opening, Ivory Coast joins, on the continent, Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya and the Republic of Congo among the countries having authorized Starlink, which now has 27 African markets.

The next step will be decisive. It will be a question of transforming this provisional authorization into effective and inclusive deployment, so that satellite internet does not remain a privilege of cities, but becomes a real lever of development for Ivorian rural communities.