By Alexandra Alper
WASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The Trump administration will lend nearly $100 million to Africell, Africa's only American-owned telecoms firm, as the U.S. seeks to thwart the expansion of China's Huawei in Africa, according to a press release and a person familiar with the matter.
The loan from the Export-Import Bank will "enable Africell to invest in the latest mobile network technology from American and allied suppliers," according to the release, published on Friday and first
reported by Reuters.
“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.
Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington said Chinese investment in Africa has spurred growth there and been welcomed by residents. It urged the U.S. to do more to support the development of other countries and not "pursue its Africa agenda with the aim of undermining China-Africa cooperation."
The loan is part of Washington's campaign to bolster the use of non-Huawei telecoms equipment overseas.
U.S. ALLEGES SPYING, HUAWEI DENIES
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 U.S. and allied nations, and has continued similar efforts during his second term.
The U.S. has imposed heavy sanctions on Huawei over allegations the company could spy on users, which Huawei denies.
Huawei holds about a 52% 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 U.S. agencies promote the use of U.S. technology abroad in AI as well as data center storage, cloud services and networking.
Founded in 2001, Africell bought technology from HP, Nokia, Dell, Oracle and others to power a new data center in Angola, according to its website. It serves 15 million customers across Angola, Gambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.
Following a 2022 visit to Africell's Angola offices, former U.S. President Joe Biden's deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman, said that when countries choose Huawei, "they are potentially giving up their sovereignty ... turning over their data to another country."
Africell received a $100 million loan in 2018 from U.S. development financier the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, now the International Development Finance Corporation, to expand its communications infrastructure.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Rod Nickel)
