- The Daily Brief, by The Kenyan Wall Street
- Posts
- Gunfire in Eastern DRC, Starlink's Kenya Numbers Double
Gunfire in Eastern DRC, Starlink's Kenya Numbers Double
Here's what you need to know to start your week
Kenyan Wall Street
January 27, 2025
Direct to your inbox every Monday at 9am (EAT)
What's Inside
Gunfire in Eastern DRC as Conflict Escalates
On Sunday night, rebel group M23 said it had taken over the key city of Goma as the conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) intensifies, increasing risks of further escalation across the region.
The announcement followed a busy weekend for both sides in the conflict, the United Nations, neighboring countries, and aid groups.
On Saturday, DRC broke off diplomatic relations with Rwanda, which it accuses of militarily supporting the resurgent rebel group.
Rwanda’s interests in the eastern DRC go back decades, and are linked to the 1994 genocide and subsequent Congo Wars of the mid-to-late 1990s.
The fall of Goma, for a second time since 2012, to M23 is bound to reshape the conflict, and raise tensions in the region, in the short term. At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the weekend where Rwanda and DRC traded accusations, several members called for a quick ceasefire and deescalation.
The UN Secretary General also asked Rwanda to withdraw its support for M23, including by withdrawing its troops from the conflict. But the immediate indications are that both sides are not ready to backdown, and the win by M23 is likely to have some immediate repercussions. In its previous attempt to hold the key city, the rebel group withdrew after immense pressure from the UN and regional players.
“Both the Luanda and Nairobi processes urgently require new impetus, in order to achieve sustainable peace and stability for the countries in our region,” Rwanda’s ministry of foreign affairs said in statement on Sunday evening. It claimed that Kinshasa’s withdrawal from the Luanda process had led to “the intensification and prolongation of the fighting, and perpetual security and other threats to neighboring countries.
Rwanda’s interest in the conflict is partially about fighting the FDLR, one of the last groups of Rwandan rebels still operational in the tumultuous DRC. In Nairobi, Kenya’s president William Ruto has convened an emergency meeting of the East African Community-of which both DRC and Rwanda are members-within the next two days to “chart the way forward.”
Stay updated on this and other important news on The Kenyan Wall Street.
“A fool and his money are soon parted. The rest of us wait for the economy to improve.”
Starlink’s Subscriber Numbers Double in Kenya
Less than two years after its debut, Elon Musk’s Starlink now has over 16,700 subscribers, according to data for July to September 2024 from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).
Starlink had just over 8,000 subscribers – a meteoric rise from 405 subscribers in June 2023 and 4, 808 in March 2024 -by the end of June 2024.
The satellite internet service now has 1.1% share of the fixed data subscriptions market, surpassing Liquid Telecommunications Kenya and Vijiji Connect.
Safaricom still maintains the lead with over 575,000 subscribers (36.6% market share), followed by Jamii Telecommunications with 24.4% and Wananchi Group’s 16.8%.
Starlink’s growth also triggered a 152.8% surge in utilised satellite internet capacity.
“Satellite internet subscriptions recorded a significant increase of 104.7 percent during the reference period attributed to a customer acquisition campaign run by Starlink Internet Services Kenya that introduced an option to rent satellite equipment at a reduced cost,” CA said in its quarterly statistics report.
Headlines to Kickstart Your Week
Interview of the Week
Have a great week!