(Bloomberg) -- Mali’s military leadership lifted a ban on the sale and import of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet kits that had been imposed due to fears that the devices could be utilized by Islamist militants and separatist rebels.
Trade in the kits, which can be used to connect to Elon Musk’s satellite-enabled service, will be authorized for six months while a regulatory framework and a platform for users to register their devices is instituted, according to minutes from a cabinet meeting.
The black-market sale of equipment needed to connect to Starlink has thrived across West Africa’s Sahel region despite government attempts to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
In Mali, insurgents use drones and satellite services to battle the Wagner Group-backed national army. Human rights activists and civil rights groups have used Starlink to report on atrocities committed by the military and Wagner, a Kremlin-linked mercenary organization.
In a bid to strengthen security and ramp up the fight against insurgents, Mali last month said it had signed pacts with Russia’s space agency to deploy telecommunications and remote-sensing satellites across the Sahel. Neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso, which are also under military rule, signed similar agreements.
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