President William Ruto has welcomed the arrival of Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, into Kenya.
During a visit to the United States on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 Ruto expressed his full support for Starlink, noting that it would bring more competition to Kenya’s internet market.
He said that having Starlink compete with other internet providers like Safaricom will benefit Kenyans by giving them access to better and faster internet services.
Ruto acknowledged that while Safaricom’s CEO, Peter Ndegwa, might not be entirely happy about the increased competition, it has encouraged him to improve the quality of Safaricom’s services.
“I have my CEO for Safaricom – Sometimes he’s not very happy with me for bringing other characters like Elon Musk and others into the space. I keep encouraging Peter that competition makes you keep ahead and he’s been doing pretty well, I must admit, he’s really upped his game,” stated Ruto.
The president stressed that competition is essential because it pushes companies to work harder and offer better products to the people.
In response to Ruto’s comments, Elon Musk took to the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to share his satisfaction with the positive changes Starlink has already brought to Kenya since it began operating in the country in July 2023.
Musk noted that Starlink’s presence has already pushed local internet providers to enhance their services.
President Ruto also took the opportunity to ask Starlink to make more investments in Kenya. He suggested that Starlink should focus on expanding high-speed internet access, particularly in rural areas and schools, where the need for reliable internet is high.
During his visit to the Starlink/SpaceX factory in Los Angeles, Ruto urged the company to continue working on lowering internet costs and improving service quality in Kenya, making it more affordable and accessible to all.
