Amazon announced on Wednesday that the technology firm will deploy its new satellite internet service, Amazon Leo, in South Africa by 2027, seemingly overtaking Elon Musk’s rival Starlink in securing a foothold in Africa’s most developed economy.

Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos, has announced a partnership with South African internet provider Herotel to launch a new service in the country, which has a population of 62 million.

The company stated that this marks its first satellite internet agreement on the African continent.

No financial particulars were initially divulged.

Amazon's announcement follows Musk's scathing criticism of the government in his country of birth.

The world's wealthiest individual has asserted that South African regulations have prevented him from launching Starlink there due to his race, and has accused the government of racism.

He was referring to South Africa's affirmative action policies, which require foreign companies in the communications sector to give a minority stake in their local subsidiaries to Black or other non-white owners to obtain a license.

The regulations are designed to provide opportunities that were previously withheld from non-white individuals under the country's former apartheid system of white minority rule.

The South African government has formally endorsed the Amazon agreement, with Communications Minister Solly Malatsi joining representatives from Amazon and Herotel to announce the deal.

Amazon launched its inaugural low-orbit internet satellites last year and now reports that over 390 are currently operational.

Starlink deployed its first operational satellites in 2019 and now maintains a constellation of over 10,000 units in orbit.

While the satellite internet service has been launched in roughly two dozen other African nations, Musk has declined to comply with South Africa’s affirmative action regulations.

Amazon announced on Wednesday that its expansion into South Africa marks the start of a broader push to establish a presence across Africa, where it plans to partner with Vanu Inc., a Lexington, Massachusetts-based company that specializes in mobile internet for developing countries.

There is a substantial potential market for satellite internet in Africa, a continent of over 1.5 billion people, where a significant portion of the population resides in rural and other regions lacking fixed internet connections.

Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, has secured agreements to launch services in Thailand, Kazakhstan, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay, as confirmed by announcements from the company and its local partner operators.

Starlink, however, maintains a substantial competitive edge, asserting that it is now operational in over 160 countries.