CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The Trump administration has provided a $99.6 million loan to a U.S.-owned mobile network operator in Africa to expand American technology presence on the continent, where China’s Huawei remains a major player.
The loan from the U.S. government’s Export-Import Bank was announced on Friday by Africell, the only U.S.-owned mobile network operator in Africa.
In a statement, Africell said the financing would “boost U.S.-based employment in the telecommunications sector and strengthen American technology leadership abroad.” The company said the funds would enable it to invest specifically in American and European technology for its operations in Angola, a country in southern Africa.
Africell also operates in Congo, Sierra Leone and Gambia, according to the company.
Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment and is estimated to have supplied more than half of Africa’s 4G and 5G network infrastructure.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump raised national security concerns about Huawei during his first term and has continued efforts to counter the company’s global expansion.
The United States has urged Western allies to avoid using Huawei products in their high-speed wireless networks. U.S. prosecutors have also accused the Chinese company of stealing technology, attempting to steal U.S. trade secrets, and committing wire and bank fraud, among other crimes.
A criminal racketeering trial against Huawei opened in New York this week. Huawei has rejected the U.S. allegations as “demonstrably false.”
The Trump administration has also taken steps to counter China’s significant influence in other areas of Africa, including the extraction of critical minerals and rare earth elements that are essential to the production of electronics, emerging technologies and defence systems.
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