More than 92,000 Nigerians now pay monthly subscriptions to a company owned by the world's first trillionaire, and a new analysis by Dr. Akinola Morakinyo argues that this arrangement is the logical outcome of six decades of infrastructure under-investment.
Writing for Nairametrics, Morakinyo traces Starlink's growth in Nigeria from 23,897 subscribers at end-2023 to 91,991 by end-2025 — nearly quadrupling in two years to become the country's second-largest fixed broadband ISP by subscriber count. The service costs residential users **N57,000 per month (about $38)**, after a one-time equipment fee of at least N590,000, while businesses pay N159,000 monthly.
The article was prompted by Bloomberg's announcement that Elon Musk had crossed **$1 trillion in personal net worth**, following SpaceX's record $75 billion initial public offering on June 12, 2026, which valued the company at $1.77 trillion. Musk's aggregate wealth now exceeds the combined fortunes of the next four richest people globally and is roughly **3.3 times Nigeria's estimated 2025 nominal GDP of $334 billion**.
By contrast, Nigeria's sovereign satellite operator, NigComSat Limited, generated just **$1.6 million in total revenue in 2025**, while carrying $11.4 million in unpaid fees to its Chinese technical contractor, China Great Wall Industry Corporation. NigComSat-1R, launched in 2011 with a fifteen-year design life, has been extended to 2028 through careful fuel management, with replacement satellites NigComSat-2A and 2B planned for 2028 and 2029. Starlink earns more from Nigerian subscribers alone in just over two weeks than NigComSat earns in an entire year.
The op-ed argues that Nigeria's broadband failure is statistical, not mysterious. The National Broadband Plan 2020-2025 set a target of **70% broadband penetration** by end-2025; the actual figure was **50.58%** — a 19.4 percentage-point gap now effectively filled by a Texas-based satellite company.
Obstacles include an estimated **157 fibre optic cables vandalised daily** across the country, cut for scrap metal. Only **15 of Nigeria's 36 states** have removed the Right-of-Way fees that make fibre deployment economically viable for private operators, leaving 21 states with tariff regimes that price national fibre infrastructure out of rational investment.
