US Bets $100 Million on American Telecom Firm to Push Back Against Huawei in Africa

.

Washington is putting fresh money behind its campaign to keep Chinese telecom equipment out of Africa. The U.S. Export-Import Bank will lend close to $100 million to Africell, the continent's only American-owned mobile carrier, according to a press release and a person familiar with the matter.

The loan is meant to help Africell replace or avoid Chinese network technology altogether. It will let the company "invest in the latest mobile network technology from American and allied suppliers."

Africell CEO Ziad Dalloul welcomed the deal, saying it would help bring "more trusted and secure communications infrastructure" to the markets where the company operates.

A Company Built to Compete With Huawei

Africell was founded in 2001 and today serves around 15 million customers in four countries: Angola, Gambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone. It already relies on hardware from HP, Nokia, Dell, and Oracle, among others, to run a data center in Angola.

That supplier list matters. Every piece of American or allied equipment Africell buys is one less contract that could have gone to Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant Washington considers a national security risk.

Why Washington Is Worried About Huawei

The concern is not new. U.S. officials have long argued that Huawei's equipment could let the Chinese Communist Party spy on foreign networks, a claim the company denies. Washington has responded with heavy sanctions against Huawei, restricting its access to key technology and components.

President Trump's first administration launched the "Clean Network" initiative to strip Chinese telecom technology, apps, and carriers out of U.S. and allied infrastructure. His second administration has kept up the pressure, and a 2025 executive order specifically directs U.S. agencies to promote American technology abroad in artificial intelligence, cloud services, data storage, and networking.

The stakes in Africa are high. Huawei still controls roughly 52 percent of the continent's 5G infrastructure market, according to Counterpoint Research — a dominant position built over two decades of low-cost financing and government-to-government deals that Western firms have struggled to match.

Beijing Pushes Back

China's embassy in Washington rejected the framing of the deal, arguing that Chinese investment has driven growth across Africa and been welcomed by local communities. It called on the U.S. to focus on genuinely supporting African development rather than what it described as undermining China-Africa cooperation.

Huawei itself did not respond to a request for comment.

Independent research groups have documented just how deep Huawei's footprint runs. According to reporting cited by VOA, the company has built roughly half of Africa's 3G networks and around 70 percent of its 4G networks, often stepping in where governments had few affordable alternatives. Critics argue that dependence gives Beijing leverage it has been willing to use elsewhere to advance its political interests.

Not Washington's First Attempt

This is not the first time U.S. money has flowed toward Africell to counter Chinese influence. In 2018, the company received a separate $100 million loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the predecessor of today's International Development Finance Corporation.

Four years later, in 2022, then-Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited Africell's offices in Angola and warned that countries choosing Huawei risked handing over more than just a phone contract. Relying on Chinese network infrastructure, she said, meant "potentially giving up their sovereignty" by "turning over their data to another country."

What Comes Next

The new loan signals that Washington intends to keep using direct financing, not just sanctions, to compete with Huawei on the ground in Africa. Whether nearly $100 million is enough to meaningfully dent a 52 percent market share remains an open question — but it shows the Trump administration is treating telecom infrastructure as a front line in its broader standoff with Beijing.

.

Sources:

1. Reuters – "Trump administration to lend $100 million to telecoms firm Africell, countering Huawei in Africa" – https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-administration-lend-100-million-africell-countering-huawei-africa-2026-09-11/
2. VOA News – "Analysts: China Expanding Influence in Africa Via Telecom Network Deals" – https://www.voanews.com/a/economy-business_analysts-china-expanding-influence-africa-telecom-network-deals/6209516.html
3. TechCentral – "US in move to counter Huawei in Africa" – https://techcentral.co.za/us-in-move-to-counter-huawei-in-africa/286021/

.