The U.S. government has been pushing African countries to approve Starlink, a satellite internet company owned by Elon Musk, quickly, according to a new report by ProPublica.
The report says that U.S. diplomats in countries like Gambia, Djibouti, Cameroon, and Lesotho have been meeting with local officials to support Starlink’s entry. They asked these countries to speed up licenses for Starlink as a sign of “friendship” with the United States.
In Gambia, the U.S. ambassador told officials that some U.S.-funded projects might be “under review” if they didn’t move faster, which local leaders felt was a veiled threat. When a Gambian minister refused to approve Starlink during a visit to Washington, the company canceled his meeting with U.S. officials. Later that day, the U.S. ambassador sent a letter to Gambia’s president urging him to allow Starlink to operate.
In Lesotho, Starlink got quick approval while a major rival was pushed aside. Around the same time, the U.S. imposed a 50% tariff on Lesotho, and the U.S. embassy reportedly bragged about helping Starlink.
Former U.S. diplomats say this kind of pressure is unusual and could be seen as unfair or corrupt. One former official said, “If another country did this, we would call it corruption.”
