• Amazon begins talks with Kenya on low-Earth orbit satellite broadband

• Kenya’s digital market is large but internet access remains uneven

• Company would face competition from Safaricom and Starlink

After targeting Liberia, South Africa and Nigeria, Amazon is now turning to Kenya as it prepares to expand its low-Earth orbit satellite broadband network across Africa.

A delegation led by Farouk Shamas Jiwa, Amazon’s senior manager for international public policy, met earlier this week with John Tanui, principal secretary at Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy. The talks focused on extending faster, more reliable and affordable broadband to underserved and unserved communities through low-Earth orbit satellite technology.

As Kenya accelerates its Digital Transformation Agenda, partnerships built on innovative technologies such as satellite broadband will be essential to narrow the digital divide, support digital public services, expand e-learning, strengthen health care delivery and unlock new opportunities for young people and businesses across the country, Mr. Tanui said in a statement posted on LinkedIn.

A Fast-Growing but Uneven Market

The outreach comes as Kenya stands out as one of Africa’s most dynamic ICT markets. Yet access gaps remain wide, creating both a policy challenge and a commercial opportunity.

According to the Communications Authority of Kenya, the country had 78.3 million mobile subscriptions, 60.26 million mobile internet subscriptions and 2.29 million fixed internet subscriptions as of late September 2025, for a population estimated at 52.42 million.

While those figures suggest penetration rates above 100 percent, subscriptions reflect SIM cards or active lines, not unique users. Many individuals hold multiple lines, meaning actual adoption rates are lower.

The International Telecommunication Union estimated internet penetration in Kenya at 35 percent in 2024, compared with 53.7 percent for mobile telephony. In its State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report 2024, the GSMA said 35 million Kenyans remain entirely offline.

Competition Already in Place

Amazon would rely on its planned constellation of low-orbit satellites to provide nationwide broadband coverage, including in remote areas that are costly to serve through traditional networks.

But the company would enter a market where competition is already entrenched, led by Safaricom and Starlink. Starlink operates a similar model, using thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites to deliver connectivity. At the same time, traditional operators are integrating satellite solutions into their infrastructure. Safaricom has an agreement with Amazon on LEO connectivity through its parent company, Vodafone.

Regulatory data show that as of September 2025, Safaricom controlled 62.7 percent of Kenya’s 47.1 million mobile broadband subscriptions, compared with 33.5 percent for Airtel Kenya. The remainder is shared among Telkom Kenya, Finserve Africa and Jamii Telecommunications.

In the fixed internet segment, Safaricom leads with 815,037 subscribers and a 35.6 percent market share, followed by Jamii at 20.4 percent, Wananchi Group at 11.8 percent and Poa Internet at 11.6 percent. Starlink ranks ninth with 19,470 subscriptions, representing 0.8 percent of the market.

Discussions remain at an early stage. Amazon has not detailed its commercial strategy for Kenya, nor provided a launch timeline. In Nigeria, the company obtained an internet service provider license. In South Africa, it has signaled interest in supporting coverage expansion by providing satellite backhaul capacity to local providers.

Isaac K. Kassouwi