The Trump administration will lend $100 million to US-owned African telecoms firm Africell as Washington looks to displace Chinese companies as regional competition between the two superpowers heats up.
The company operates in Angola, DR Congo, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone. The Africell deal will help “American and allied suppliers” develop infrastructure to counter China’s Huawei, Reuters reported. Africell told Semafor the loan would enable it to “continue expanding ambitiously in Angola.”
Beijing and Washington are also vying for supremacy in Africa’s mining industry: The US this week announced plans to develop a major critical minerals processing facility in Kenya, which is believed to harbor tens of billions of dollars’ worth of rare earths, an industry over which China has a tight grip. Kenya is reported to have large, untapped deposits of minerals required to build infrastructure for renewable energy and digital technologies, including copper, graphite, lithium, and nickel. The agreement is a boost for President William Ruto, who has burnished his ties with Western leaders, and made local processing of resources a key plank in his bid for a second term in next year’s election.
