Spaceports, satellites and Somalia gets Starlink

Issue #9: It’s a big week for Somalia in space, with Türkiye beginning construction of a new spaceport and Starlink going live.

Mahbub M Abdillahi

and

Faisal Ali

Aug 09, 2025

This week, we cover Starlink in Somalia, Türkiye’s spaceport there too and Trump on Somaliland. (Graphic: Geeska)

Good morning everyone and welcome to another issue of Acacia, Geeska’s weekly East Africa newsletter!

Large fires have been a challenging issue for Somalis — from the Waheen market in Hargeisa in 2022 to Bakara market in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in 2017. We saw this again at Suuq Bacaad, Mogadishu’s second-largest open market, earlier this week, where a huge overnight fire reduced dozens of business stalls to smouldering ash. One person was killed. It’s not yet clear what triggered the fire, but Somali MP Yasin Farey has suggested there may be grounds to suspect arson. “Given the speed and spread, I believe this was no accident,” he said. “We need a full investigation.” Banadir governor, Hassan Muungaab, said the incident should serve as a turning point for fire safety in the city’s markets.

Migori County MP Fatuma Mohammed set Kenya’s parliament more figuratively ablaze with an emotive speech on the situation in Gaza. “I want to warn those who support such oppression,” she said, “that God is watching.” She added: “You might be so strong, but you can’t be stronger than God. You might have all the weapons in this world, but God will only show a finger and you’ll be doomed.”

Elsewhere, 15-year-old swimmer Mustafa Hashim joins last week’s firsts by becoming the first athlete to represent Somalia at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Hashim chose to represent Somalia after reaching out to the Somali Swimming Federation. “I believe my story can inspire others from underrepresented nations and show that athletes from any background with the right mindset can break through at the highest level,” he said. Somalis had another moment in the sun this week when popular TikTok singer Uwe Baltner sang Somali Udiida Ceb (“Somalia, don’t shame yourself”) by legendary artist Maryam Mursal. He actually does a pretty good job. He has done covers of loads of Somali songs across genres, from more familiar songs like Suldaan Seerar’s Iftiinki Xamar Xamar Bila and UK rapper Skore Beezy’s Beef With The Malis.

That’s the entrée. Now for a deeper dive into the stories we’re featuring this week. It’s all about space this week, as Elon Musk announces that Starlink is now available in Somalia; the Boston Consulting Group modelled ethnically cleansing Palestinians to Somaliland and Somalia; Türkiye has begun constructing a spaceport north of Mogadishu; Trump has shed a bit of light on his dealings with Somaliland — and much more.

Middle East: Boston Consulting Group models ethnically cleansing Palestinians in Gaza to Somalia and Somaliland

On Thursday, the Financial Times revealed that a modelling project by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) identified both Somalia and Somaliland as potential destinations for Palestinians who would be ethnically cleansed from Gaza. The plan comes after Donald Trump’s announcement earlier this year that he wanted to “just clean out” to make space for a riviera. You’ll remember that bizarre video he released with his vision for the besieged Strip:

The model also included the UAE, Egypt, and Jordan as possible destinations, but there have been noises for months that the Trump administration has been attempting to enlist the Somali government and Somaliland, among other countries in Africa. Somalia immediately rejected a report in March by the AP about a possible plan to relocate Palestinians there. Somaliland said it hadn’t engaged in talks but fell short of rejecting the idea in principle. In a statement to Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, Somaliland’s foreign minister Abdirahman Dahir said: “The most important thing for us is recognition.” He added: “We are open to discussion on any matter. All countries that are interested in discussing certain issues with us must first establish working relations and open diplomatic missions in Somaliland.”

Politics: US “working on” Somaliland issue, says Trump

US President Donald Trump said his country was “working on” the Somaliland issue in a surprise revelation on Friday during a press conference alongside Azerbaijan’s president and Armenia’s prime minister. It is the first time the US president has addressed the issue amid long-simmering rumours about whether the US could break with its “One Somalia” policy and enhance cooperation with or even recognise Somaliland. Trump said it was a “complex one”, adding that the US was “looking into that”. He didn’t, unfortunately, give any more of an indication of what he’s thinking. The statement follows the offer of a US military base by Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro), last week in an interview with Bloomberg which didn’t get a response. The Financial Times reported this week that US officials have held talks with Somaliland about such a deal.

Hargeisa has been lobbying Washington since 2022, when Muse Bihi was president, presenting itself as a reliable partner for enhanced US engagement. This has won it friends in Washington — from Republican Senate foreign affairs committee chair, James Risch, to Democrat Chris Van Hollen — as well as support from think tanks like the Hudson Institute and the Heritage Foundation. Risch and Van Hollen were co-sponsors of the Somaliland Partnership Act, which called for a feasibility study on deeper diplomatic and security engagement with Somaliland, but which eventually fizzled out. However, the US has signalled ambivalence until now about going futher. According to the Financial Times, the US has or is undertaking a review of its Somalia policy and Hargeisa has sensed an opportunity. But in April, the State Department’s Africa Media Hub posted: “Our intention is to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all nations. Not just one, but all nations.” It is difficult to predict what this statement will mean. There are rumours that Irro will visit Washington. One thing we can be certain of is that the Somaliland issue has definitely reached the president’s desk.

Connectivity: Starlink officially launches in Somalia

In April this year, the National Communications Authority (NCA) of Somalia approved a licence to Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to operate within the country. This week, Starlink announced that its service is now available in Somalia. Somalia’s ambassador to the US welcomed the development in a post on X: “Somalia welcomes @Starlink’s initiative to expand connectivity across the country.” He likely had a hand in arranging it, meeting Michaela Pawlak, a SpaceX official, in November. The Africa Report speculated that this was part of a broader effort to lobby the Trump administration — back when Musk was in its good graces — against recognising Somaliland, which has reportedly made inroads with Trump.

Somalia has long been recognised for its competitively priced internet. At one point, the country was ranked 7th globally and 1st in Africa for the cheapest average cost per 1GB of data. The Spectator, a British magazine, even ran a piece comparing Manchester’s phone reception with Mogadishu’s. This affordability has been largely driven by Somalia’s fully privatised telecom sector, which has succeeded in delivering internet access across the country. However, Elon Musk’s post about the service’s availability in Somalia drew over 13,000 comments, with a remarkable share of racist reactions, some from prominent far-right figures. Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire, known for his relentless racism against Somalis, responded to Musk’s post with his usual uncanny: “No dear God please no.”

Infrastructure: Türkiye is building Africa’s first spaceport in Somalia

Yes you read that right. Türkiye is taking a big leap in space tech with plans to build a spaceport on Somalia’s Indian Ocean coast. Led by the Turkish Space Agency, the 900-square-kilometre site will handle satellite launches, test next-generation missile systems and could be used to achieve a moon landing, according TRT Afrika, the Turkish public broadcaster’s Africa website. If all goes to plan, it will be the first orbital launch site on the African continent. Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, confirmed that construction is already underway, saying the project will bring serious “investment, innovation, and jobs.” He added: “Seeing a satellite launched from Somalia is worth more than a few billion dollars.” The plan was first reported by Middle East Eye’s Ragip Soylu in 2021.

Politics: Ethiopia’s new ambassador to Somalia causes a stir

Ethiopia has appointed Suleiman Dedefo as its new ambassador to Somalia — and the choice has caused a stir online, as Somalis have trawled through his old tweets to find content that should likely be of interest to officials in Mogadishu. Dedefo has expressed strong an unqualified support for Somaliland’s independence from Somalia. In January, he shared an article headlined: “It is Time for the World to Recognize Somaliland”. Five days later, he was revisiting historical issues, arguing that Somaliland never truly joined Somalia. He even accused Somalia of “air piracy” following an airspace dispute involving Somaliland — and there’s more which remain online. Granted, many of the tweets were posted following the fallout from the memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland last year, when Somalia and Ethiopia had a major diplomatic rift — but that context hasn’t earned him any clemency.

Former security minister Abdirisak Mohamed called Dedefo’s appointment a “public embarrassment,” accusing the government of failing to vet diplomats. Adam Aw Hirsi, director of the Mogadishu-based thinktank, Foresight for Practical Solutions, quote tweeted Mohamed reminding him that a key provision of the Ankara Declaration which ended the diplomatic dispute between the countries was to “to forgo and leave behind differences and contentious issues and forge ahead in a cooperative manner to pursue shared prosperity.”

Across the gees

A city in Sudan’s Darfur region is being starved by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), affecting more than 700,000 people. El Fasher, in North Darfur—the largest city in the region still held by pro-government forces—has been “asphyxiated under siege” for more than a year, according to Sudanese journalist Eiad Husham. Aid agencies say they have been denied entry by the RSF, which has surrounded the city. UNICEF Sudan representative Sheldon Yett has said children have been reduced to “skin and bones”, as footage has circulated online showing women praying and people being forced to gather animal feed to survive. This week, Sky News journalist Yousra Elbagir obtained rare footage from inside the city.
Staying with Sudan, the government there has accused the UAE of sending Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the RSF in the country’s two-year civil war. The allegation comes as Columbian news website La Silla Vacía published images which it said it obtained from another Columbian mercenary near the South Darfur city of Nyala, in western Sudan, as they trained recruits. Some were as young as 12, the mercenary said. Separately, The Telegraph also reported that Colombian troops were present in the Zamzam refugee camp. A spokesperson at the camp told Sudan Tribune that the camp’s security was handed over to the RSF. Clips and images of Spanish-speaking white soldiers in Sudan have been circulating for months. Columbia’s president, Gustavo Petro, said he requested a bill prohibiting “mercenary activities” and has instructed his ambassador in Cairo to investigate how many Columbians have been killed in Sudan. The UAE issued a statement dismissing its alleged involvement in the conflict as “baseless”.
A UK court will release the names and addresses of British soldiers who fathered children while deployed in Kenya to the affected children. The ruling follows an investigation by The Times last year, which located Kenyan women who said they had children with British soldiers. The case concerns 11 children who lived with their mothers near a British Army barracks in central Kenya. UK soldiers have been linked to a series of scandals in Kenya, including allegations of rape and even murder.

Africa

We like to cast the net wide in our Africa section, but there was a major development in Ethiopia, where a court handed down a rare death sentence for human trafficking. Five individuals were convicted of smuggling people along the eastern route across the Red Sea to the Arabian Gulf. The ruling comes just a week after a boat capsized in the Red Sea with around 150 people on board, 76 confirmed dead and 74 missing, according to the UN. The year 2024 was the deadliest on record for people on migration routes, with an estimated 8,938 lives lost. The trend has risen sharply since 2020, when 3,330 people lost their lives.

Tangents

Omar Arten, the acclaimed Somali referee, sat down with content creator Somali Gamer to share his inspiring journey. It’s a lengthy listen in Somali on the streaming platform Kick, but a fascinating story, including a section on why it’s important for Somalis in the diaspora to represent the national team. (Link here.)

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