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Côte d’Ivoire approves Starlink service, data centre project and more after US state visit

Côte d’Ivoire approves Starlink, data centre project and more after US state visit

Côte d’Ivoire is getting Starlink LEO satellite services and a sovereign national data centre, among other things, following a state visit to Abidjan by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frank R. Garcia last Thursday.

According to a statement from the US embassy in Côte d’Ivoire, the Ivoirian government has given final approval for Starlink operations after Garcia’s visit, which it hopes will expand broadband internet services to underserved and unserved areas across the country.

The government also authorised US cybersecurity company Cybastion to proceed with a US$170 million project financed by the US Export-Import Bank to build a sovereign national data centre, as well as a government digitization platform and a smart border surveillance system.

Garcia – who visited Côte d’Ivoire on July 15 and 16 during his first trip to Africa as assistant Secretary of state – added that Cybastion and Cisco are partnering with the US Embassy to “deepen American engagement in Côte d’Ivoire’s growing digital sector”.

Garcia also said that during the trip, ABD Group reached an agreement to proceed with a US$293 million healthcare infrastructure initiative in Côte d’Ivoire, representing the first major project being implemented under a US$570 million infrastructure framework agreement signed between ABD Group and the Ivoirian government in Washington this past April across the healthcare, education, and water sectors.

Meanwhile, US technology logistics company NTELX signed a contract with the Greater Abidjan Port-City Integration Project to expand the use of its truck coordination technology at the Port of Abidjanto as part of a plan to modernise Côte d’Ivoire’s trade infrastructure.

“Assistant Secretary Garcia’s trip to Côte d’Ivoire has proved essential to getting several key commercial deals over the finish line in the mutual interests of the United States and Côte d’Ivoire,” said Chargé d’Affaires Junaid Munir.



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