Trump administration lends $100M to US-owned cell phone network in Africa to expand American tech

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The Trump administration has provided a $99.6 million loan to a U.S.-owned cell phone network operator in Africa to expand American tech presence on a continent where China's Huawei is a leading player.

The loan from the U.S. government's Export-Import Bank was announced by the operator Africell on Friday. It is the only U.S.-owned cell network operator in Africa.

Africell said in a statement the loan would “boost U.S.-based employment in the telecommunications sector and strengthen American technology leadership abroad.” It said the money would allow it to invest specifically in American and European technology for its operations in the southern African country of Angola.

Africell also operates in Congo, Sierra Leone and Gambia, it said.

Huawei is the world's biggest supplier of telecommunications network equipment and is estimated to have supplied more than half the 4G and 5G network infrastructure in Africa.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration raised national security concerns about Huawei in his first term and has moved to counter its global expansion.

The U.S. has lobbied Western allies to avoid using the Chinese company’s products in their high-speed wireless networks, while U.S. prosecutors have accused Huawei of stealing technology, plotting 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 said the U.S. allegations are “demonstrably false.”

The Trump administration has also moved to counter China's large influence in other areas in Africa, including in the extraction of critical minerals and rare earth elements that are key in the production of electronics, other new technologies and defense systems.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa