WASHINGTON: The Trump administration will lend nearly $100 million to Africell, Africa’s only American-owned telecoms firm, as it seeks to counter the expansion of China’s Huawei in Africa, according to a person familiar with the matter and a draft press release.
The loan from the Export-Import Bank to Africell will ‘enable Africell to invest in the latest mobile network technology from American and allied suppliers,’ according to the draft release, which is due to be issued later on Friday.
‘We are pleased to be working with EXIM to introduce more trusted and secure communications infrastructure to our operating markets,’ said Ziad Dalloul, CEO of Africell Holding Limited, according to the document. Huawei and the Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The loan, not previously reported, is part of Washington’s campaign to bolster the use of non-Huawei telecoms equipment overseas.
President Donald Trump’s administration launched a ‘clean network’ initiative in his first term to purge Chinese telecoms technology, apps and carriers from infrastructure in the US and allied nations, and has continued similar efforts during his second term.
The US has heavily sanctioned Huawei over allegations that the company could spy on users, which Huawei denies. Huawei holds about a 52pc market share for 5G infrastructure in Africa, according to Counterpoint Research.
The loan also follows through on a 2025 executive order by Trump mandating that US agencies promote the use of US technology abroad in Al as well as data center storage, cloud services and networking.-Reuters