Satellite Communication and Peacebuilding in East Africa

This report highlights new opportunities to integrate satellite communication into peacebuilding initiatives in East Africa, especially given challenges faced by terrestrial and undersea telecom operators, the affordances of satellite technologies, and growth of the satellite market in Africa. Section one of the report describes threats to terrestrial and undersea telecom infrastructure in East Africa arising from vandalism, theft, and sabotage. Section two delineates the unique affordances of communication satellites and then describes some of the major players in the African satellite market as well as their satellite assets. Finally, section three offers a series of recommendations for how satellite capacity can be used to support peacebuilding in East Africa. Undergirding this analysis is a recognition of the legal provisions of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which defined outer space, including orbit, as the province of all (hu)mankind, and mandated that it be used to benefit all countries regardless of “the degree of their economic or scientific development.” (Treaty…, 1967).