Africa is just one of the continents that rely heavily on Huawei for connectivity and other technological innovations. An expert said the continent is expected to stick with the Chinese tech giant regardless of what U.S. President Donald Trump says.
In an entry for Quartz, visiting fellow for the Center of Global Development, W. Gyude Moore, wrote that Trump's tirade against the Chinese telecom leader is forcing African nations to make a choice regarding a blanket ban on the company.
However, African states appear to be indirectly defying Trump. The reason is obvious, as Moore stated. "China has subsidized Africa's connectivity. No provider is capable of building telco infrastructure at the price or pace Huawei can," he argued.
Aside from building around 70 percent of the continent's information technology (IT) infrastructure, Huawei offers cheap but quality service that other firms cannot. Ever since the U.S. banned the firm, American companies relying on the Chinese provider have been struggling to diversify products and raw material suppliers.
With most African governments, diversifying products is not yet an option since many local administrations do not have the funding for this move. Furthermore, most of the continent's IT projects were made possible through Chinese loans and grants.
According to Moore, African states aren't very much concerned at the moment about the U.S. government's allegations that Huawei's 5G technologies are a threat to national security.
Instead, what Africa is concerned about is its ability to connect each state with the global world and who will provide this service in an affordable yet quality package. So far, Huawei has been the only company to offer everything African countries need.
Huawei is not done offering services to a continent in search of basic connectivity. It was revealed during the weekend that the company aims to promote smart cities in the continent, as announced by Senior Director of Public Affairs at the company's Kenya office, Adam Lane.
Lane said the firm is negotiating with several African states regarding the initiative. The goal is to help African communities adopt modern technology in various uses such as communications and energy use.
Over the years, Huawei has already helped deliver smart technology to Botswana, Kenya, and Nigeria. Communication channels were improved to help police and medical assistants respond to emergencies faster.
The next step is to provide smart meters for electricity and utilities so African urban sites can reduce utility waste. This will then improve the quality of life of those living in African cities.
