SpaceX is advertising a position for growth manager of its Starlink Internet service in Sub-Saharan Africa

ACCORDING to the following article, SpaceX is advertising a job vacancy for a manager to boost Starlink growth in Africa. The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, from where the growth manager will report to a team at Starlink’s Hawthorne, California headquarters. It would prioritise applicants with a current right to work in Kenya. Also:

"Starlink’s estimated rollout date in South Africa has remained “unknown”, whereas the service has already been available in Kenya for four months. Six other Sub-Saharan African countries — Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia — have also launched Starlink. In addition, the company has given estimated rollout dates for the vast majority of the other countries in the region before the end of 2024. Aside from South Africa, the only four countries that don’t yet have a planned launch date are Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, and South Sudan". 

Read more in report from MyBroadband - mybroadband.co.za/news/
By Hanno Labuschagne
Dated Monday, 20 November 2023 - here is a copy in full:

SpaceX hiring manager to boost Starlink growth in Africa

SpaceX is advertising a position for growth manager of its Starlink Internet service in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The role — first reported by Space in Africa — is open for applications on the Greenhouse recruitment website.

SpaceX explained that it was looking for someone to join the Starlink Growth team, which is responsible for launching, growing, and improving the service.

The successful candidate will be accountable for Starlink’s growth and success in the region, identifying and removing barriers to growth, championing user experience, and driving initiatives to accelerate adoption.

The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, from where the growth manager will report to a team at Starlink’s Hawthorne, California headquarters.

The growth manager’s responsibilities will entail the following:

• Own growth of active consumer subscriber base in the region, identifying blockers and prioritising levers for growth
• Set vision, develop strategy, and manage a budget around consumer growth initiative strategies, and tactics to meet company goals in the region
• Deeply understand the customer experience in a country, elevating insights to drive localised improvements
• Develop dashboards to track progress, drive improvements to growth and operational metrics, work with the operations team to create forecasts, and communicate to the broader Starlink team and senior leadership
• Engage with local partners to drive efforts catered to the market, understand what’s working and what’s not, and drive continuous improvement
• Champion key strategic consumer-focused projects end-to-end by collaborating and working cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, and Support teams

The basic qualifications required to be considered for the position include a Bachelor’s degree, five or more years of experience in consulting or project management, and three or more years of experience in Excel and SQL.

In addition, SpaceX demands two or more years of leading in interdisciplinary projects. The candidate must also have residency and work authorisation in Africa.

Skyline of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya

Other preferred skills and experience that will benefit applicants include:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, management information systems, computer science, engineering, or economics disciplines
• 8+ years of relevant work experience in go-to-market, growth, international operations, consulting, software, Internet, and/or media industries, or early-stage companies
• Proven ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment
• Experience leading complex operational and strategic initiatives
• Demonstrated track record of cross-functional stakeholder management and leadership through influence
• Distinctive project management, problem-solving, and analysis skills, combined with business judgment and top communication skills
• Experience working in broadband Internet or other consumer product industries
• Master’s degree in management, engineering, or supply chain

SpaceX added it would prioritise applicants with a current right to work in Kenya.

They must also be willing to travel approximately 50% of the time and work extended hours and over weekends as needed.

It also stressed it does not have regional offices everywhere in the world and the candidate might not work from a SpaceX office.

No clarity on South African rollout

Many tech companies operate their Sub-Saharan Africa offices out of South Africa because the country is among the most well-developed on the continent.

However, Starlink’s estimated rollout date in South Africa has remained “unknown”, whereas the service has already been available in Kenya for four months.

Six other Sub-Saharan African countries — Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia — have also launched Starlink.

In addition, the company has given estimated rollout dates for the vast majority of the other countries in the region before the end of 2024.

Aside from South Africa, the only four countries that don’t yet have a planned launch date are Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, and South Sudan.

SpaceX’s enterprise director Phillip van Essen previously told Mining Weekly that the company prioritised countries that made it easy to get approval for Starlink.

It is possible that the role of the growth manager could include expanding the service into countries where Starlink has not passed the necessary legal hurdles.

In South Africa, Starlink requires an electronic communications services (ECS) licence to sell its service directly to customers.

It would also need an electronic communications network services (ECNS) licence to roll out ground stations to improve the service’s performance.

Starlink Gateway on Unalaska

To acquire these licences, the Electronic Communications Act determines that SpaceX — or its local subsidiary or partner — must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups — including black people, women, youth, or disabled people.

Complicating matters further is that the licence will have to be acquired “second hand” from a willing seller, as South Africa’s telecoms regulator — Icasa — is not currently accepting applications for new licences.

It recently emerged that even government-owned fibre network operator Broadband Infraco cannot apply for an ECS  licence.

Icasa has not explained why it has not published a new invitation to apply for these licences in more than a decade.

Alternatively, SpaceX could work with a local partner that already meets the requirements.

However, this could make its subscription more expensive as the partner would have to take a cut to make such an arrangement financially sensible.

Although several companies have already confirmed distribution agreements with SpaceX, they have shied away from mentioning availability in South Africa in the near future.

Despite no official local rollout, over 4,000 South Africans are using imported Starlink kits with a regional or global roaming subscription to access the Internet.

Two Internet service providers (ISPs) that specialise in importing and managing Starlink on behalf of end-users — Starsat Africa and IcasaSePush — recently reduced their subscription prices substantially.

View original: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadband/515921-spacex-hiring-manager-to-boost-starlink-growth-in-africa.html

[Ends]

There are no better experts on refugees than refugees

Report from The Guardian - guardian.org
By Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Dated Monday, 9 October 2023; 06.00 BST - here is a full copy:

‘There are no better experts on refugees than refugees’: Nhial Deng on why politicians need to listen

At 11, the South Sudanese refugee was forced to flee his Ethiopian village and spent several years in Kakuma camp in Kenya. His work helping others there won UN recognition and a prestigious award – now he’s planning to fund a library

Nhial Deng’s incredible journey culminated last month in receiving a prestigious UN prize recognising 14 years of helping other refugees. Photograph: Courtesy of Chegg.org

The militiamen came early in the morning when the children were sleeping. The serenity of Itang, an Ethiopian village on the Baro River skirting a national park close to the South Sudanese border, was about to be broken.

Eleven-year-old Nhial Deng heard gunshots and screaming as his father woke him up, whispering to him that there was only time to pack a shirt, a pen and a bottle of water.

“He brought me outside the house and pointed to a group of mostly women and children and a few men who were gathering under a small tree and told me that I had to go with them to a refugee camp,” says Deng, now 24, recalling the events of April 2010.

“I couldn’t move. I saw houses burning, I saw someone on the ground bleeding, people were running in all directions,” he says. “Someone came and pulled me to the group – I never even had a chance to say goodbye to my dad.”

That day was the start of an incredible journey for Deng, which culminated in him receiving a prestigious prize from the United Nations last month that recognised his work over the past 14 years in helping other refugees.

Deng was born in Ethiopia, where his father settled having fled South Sudan years before, but “it never came to my mind that one day [the conflict] would be something that would affect me directly”, Deng remembers.

It took the group two days to get to another village south of their own, where people divided into two groups. Deng’s group headed to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. After a two-week journey on foot and on the back of trucks, he eventually made it to the camp in north-west Kenya, which today is home to more than 200,000 refugees.

Deng says he was scared and shivering throughout the journey but had hope because “my dad told me while he was holding me that I would be able to go to school – from a very young age my dad told me that education was a tool that I could use to transform my life.”

A pastor took Deng in as part of a fostered family programme and within a few months, he was registered at school.

“I felt at home when I started going to school,” he says. “The school was more than a place of learning for me, it was a place where I was able to find solace, where I was able to find hope, where I was able to find healing.”

Refugees from South Sudan register at Kakuma camp in Kenya. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

Kakuma refugee camp was set up in the early 1990s when thousands of Sudanese children, known as the “lost boys of Sudan”, flocked to safety after a civil war.

The sense of community that I experienced in the refugee camp is something that I have not seen anywhere else

“Life in the camp was just incredible,” Deng says. “The sense of community that I experienced in the refugee camp is something I have not seen anywhere else. You’ll see people who have their own challenges who would struggle day in, day out, but would hold on to each other.”

The Red Cross family-tracking programme managed to locate Deng’s family after four years – a two-minute phone call reunited him with his parents in 2014. Initial attempts to find his father failed because he had relocated to South Sudan, but the Red Cross found the family after they returned to Ethiopia.

It was only last year that Deng was able to meet with his mother and six siblings, who now live in Kenya. He has yet to see his father, who is still in Ethiopia, in person.

In 2017, Deng set up the Refugee Youth Peace Ambassadors, a group that started as a Wednesday club at his school and then expanded to other schools providing mentorship and creating workshops.

In 2018, Deng – who identifies as a South Sudanese refugee – graduated from the school, and later took a one-year online course with Regis University in the US, before being admitted on a full scholarship to Huron University in Ontario, Canada, where he moved in 2021 to study global studies and communications.

Deng went back to Kakuma refugee camp in 2021 to set up a new initiative called SheLeads Kakuma, aimed at empowering women and girls through a six-month leadership, advocacy and mentorship programme.

Nhial Deng speaks at the UN’s Transforming Education summit. Photograph: Jaclyn Licht/UN Photo

The UN has recognised Deng’s work helping other refugees. He was invited to speak on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York last month, where he was named the winner of a global student prize worth $100,000 (£82,500). The judges of the Chegg.org Global Student Prize chose him from almost 4,000 students in 122 countries.

“Nhial has overcome unimaginable adversity to keep fighting for a better future, not just for himself, but for thousands like him. In times of crisis, we need innovation and resilience, and Nhial’s commitment to tackling the global refugee crisis is truly inspirational,” said Heather Hatlo Porter, the chief communications officer of Chegg.

Deng has promised to donate half of his prize money to build a library at Kakuma refugee camp.

The UN refugee agency said in June that an estimated 108 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide by the end of last year – the number of refugees rose by a record 35% to reach 34.6 million. Politicians and media, Deng says, “need to talk more with refugees than about refugees”.

“I think no one can tell your story better than yourself. There are no better experts about the refugee issue than refugees and that’s why we need to listen to refugees.”

Deng is critical of how some developed countries disregard “the underlying principle of responsibility sharing” in the UN refugee convention.

Deng now helps young people in refugee camps to improve their lives through education and sport. He is particularly passionate about gender equality and misinformation. Photograph: Courtesy of Chegg.org

“More refugees are staying in countries neighbouring them. Over 70% of refugees actually stay in the developing world, in the global south,” he says, adding that Kenya hosts more than 600,000 refugees and Uganda more than a million.

“They [developed countries] don’t see the bigger picture, but also politicians turn refugees into a political football. They use that for their own gain. Numbers are often manufactured or they are exaggerated in some way. The reality is that a big number of refugees live in the developing world and [host] countries are not getting the credit at all.

“It’s incredible that from the first time in 1991 when the first group of refugees arrived in Kenya, Kenya has not closed its borders to refugees. It’s been open throughout.”

Asked about the potential of refugees, he says: “I think everyone has something to do. Everyone can contribute in some small way.”

View original: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/oct/09/there-are-no-better-experts-on-refugees-than-refugees-nhial-deng-on-why-politicians-need-to-listen

[Ends]

Documentary: Elderly Care Exposed - BBC Africa Eye

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: There are many wicked people in the world who should never be hired as carers to take care of the daily needs and social care of children and/or adults who are vulnerable, infirm, disabled. 

I once heard a Darfuri woman in a refugee camp saying she has eight children so at least one might survive to take care of her in her old age. 

Here is a copy of a tweet by BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) Aug 7, 2023 with a link to a full version of the video of their undercover investigation into some African care homes in Nairobi, Kenya. It says: 

Across Africa, the elderly have traditionally been cared for by their families. Now, with life expectancy increasing, many Africans are turning to care homes for help...but are the elderly getting the care they need? #BBCAfricaEye goes undercover to investigate. ⬇️ 

https://youtu.be/4Z5ZbYd6FkE - VIDEO WARNING: Distressing Content

— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) August 7, 2023

Read 827 comments posted at the video: https://youtu.be/4Z5ZbYd6FkE

Here are some excerpts from a description posted at the video:

"BBC Africa Eye goes undercover to investigate allegations of mistreatment, theft and neglect inside a Kenyan care home for the elderly. Undercover reporters gathered evidence of mistreatment and neglect of vulnerable residents at an elderly care home near Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Secret filming shows staff members physically mistreating residents and dumping unplated food on tables, leaving struggling residents to feed themselves. Medical conditions were also left untreated. Africa Eye reporter Njeri Mwangi investigates the dark side of elderly care in Kenya. *** #BBCAfricaEye brings you original, investigative journalism revealing secrets and rooting out injustice in the world’s most complex and exciting continent. Nothing stays hidden forever. Check out all Africa Eye investigations here: 🎥 https://bit.ly/bbcafricaeye 📽 The SWAHILI version of this documentary can be viewed here:    • Nyumba za kulea wazee kenya: "Wanatel...   CREDITS: BBC Africa Eye Editor - Tom Watson Head of Long Form and Investigations – Liz Gibbons Produced and Directed by Kassim Mohamed, Hussein Mohamed, Godfrey Badebye Executive Producers – Peter Murimi, Andy Bell, Dickon Le Marchant Reporter – Njeri Mwangi Camera – Abdi Mungai Film Editor – John Moratiel Online Editor - Chris Stott Dubbing Mixer - Jez Spencer Colour Grader - Boyd Nagle Production Manager - Simon Frost Reversioning Producer - Anna Payton Digital Producer - Tamasin Ford Social Media Producer - Anusha Kumar Impact Producer - Blanca Munoz, Valeria Cardi Production Coordinators – Izzy Fleming, Abigail Knight Drone Pilot – Chrispine Otieno Archive – Ebru TV News Fixer – Alphonce Gari"

[Ends]