About 23 million Nigerians, mostly in rural areas, are set to gain internet access through growing partnerships between telecommunications companies and satellite providers such as SpaceX’s Starlink and Lynk Global.
Yomi Arowosafe, secretary of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), noted that these Nigerians live within one of the country’s 87 unconnected clusters. Many of them are farmers who believe improved internet access will expand their market reach and reduce transportation costs.
“Sales will increase, and the cost of transportation will decline. This is because farmers can get information about what a customer needs without having to travel to the market. Simply put, an improved internet will help bridge the market access gap,” said Femi Oke, president of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos Chapter.
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According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), over 80 percent of farmers in Africa’s most populous nation live in rural communities, many of which remain offline. In 2022, 61 percent of Nigerians in rural areas lacked internet access, compared to 40 percent in urban areas, according to GSMA, the global body for telcos.
“If more network masts are mounted in rural farming communities, it will lead to improved food production,” Oke added.
Tasiu Haruna, a tomato farmer in Kaduna, echoed, “If farmers have better internet access, they can enquire from fellow farmers in other states on the selling price of farm produce. This will aid uniform prices in staples across the country.”
He added, “The benefit it will provide for us is numerous; it will cut down the cost of transportation from the market to access through timely information between farmers, middlemen, and traders. We can also join online training and groups with ease.”
After years of underinvestment in rural areas due to their perceived economic unviability, telecom operators are now partnering with satellite firms to expand broadband coverage. As of March 2025, broadband penetration stood at 47.73 percent.
Satellites, particularly Low Earth Orbit (LEO) models like Starlink, are proving effective for delivering high-speed internet in regions where terrestrial infrastructure is too costly or logistically challenging to deploy.
Following Starlink’s launch in Nigeria, Isa Pantami, former minister of communications and digital economy, claimed the country had achieved 100 percent internet coverage, referring to the reach enabled by satellite.
According to GSMA, growing investment and technological advancements have made LEO satellites and High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) more scalable and affordable. These technologies are gaining traction in Nigeria and other African nations, especially for connecting remote locations.
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Satellites provide a critical pathway for connecting new customers in underserved regions. Airtel Africa, which has 58.26 million subscribers in Nigeria, recently partnered with SpaceX to deliver Starlink’s high-speed internet to rural customers.
Sunil Taldar, Airtel Africa’s chief executive officer, said, “Next-generation satellite connectivity will ensure that every individual, business, and community have reliable and affordable voice and data connectivity even in the most remote and currently under-served parts of Africa.”
Beyond this partnership, Airtel Nigeria and Eutelsat OneWeb also teamed up in 2022 to extend satellite-powered broadband to remote regions.
MTN is actively exploring partnerships with Omnispace, OneWeb, Starlink, Lynk Global, and AST SpaceMobile. In 2024, Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) collaborated with Starlink to provide satellite backhaul for its rural base stations in Nigeria.
“To keep customers and businesses connected at all times, we are going to have to embrace satellite as an additional technology form,” stated Ralph Mupita, MTN Group’s chief executive officer.
In 2025, MTN South Africa and Lynk Global completed Africa’s first satellite phone call, marking a major milestone in efforts to extend telecom access to unserved areas.
Beyond private sector efforts, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is working to raise rural telecom coverage from 40 percent to 80 percent by 2027. The commission plans to leverage satellite services from NigComSat and private operators to achieve this, according to GSMA.
Beyond improving food production, research also supports the link between internet access and poverty reduction. In 2023, the World Bank reported that after three or more years of exposure to internet coverage in Nigeria and Tanzania, extreme poverty declined by about seven percent, and labour force participation and wage employment increased by up to eight percent.
A 2020 GSMA study found that the proportion of households in extreme poverty dropped by four percentage points after at least one year of internet coverage and by about seven percentage points after at least two or more years of coverage. This translates to moving approximately 2.5 million people out of extreme poverty.
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However, despite the potential, one major barrier remains the unaffordability of smartphones for many farmers. GSMA recently reported that 120 million Nigerians, mostly in rural areas, do not use mobile internet despite living in areas with coverage. Smartphone usage in rural Nigeria stood at 26 percent in 2023, compared to 59 percent in urban areas. Mobile internet usage in urban regions was 59 percent, compared to 28 percent in rural areas.
Karl Toriola, chief executive officer of MTNN, recently emphasised that high costs of smartphones are hindering digital inclusion.
“If the cost of smartphones isn’t addressed, then improved internet access will mean little,” said Abiodun Olorundero, managing partner of Prasinos Farms. “Less than 30 percent of farmers today use Android phones, so it will make no difference.”
