Africa has long been a battleground for influence between China and the US, and the latest phase in this rivalry is digital.
Huawei — as the largest builder of mobile phone masts in Africa (about 70 per cent of them), the maker of Africa’s most popular handsets and the key player in developing 5G technologies in the region — stands in the way of America’s digital ambitions in Africa. This makes it a natural target for the Trump administration’s ire.
Huawei’s dramatic growth in Africa is not an isolated phenomenon but part of a broader Chinese digital strategy that is only now reaching maturity. China has spent the past decade building the region’s digital infrastructure. Two Chinese companies — Huawei and Transsion — hold nearly half of Africa’s handset market.