5G Is Coming To Kenya Through Huawei & The US’s Tussle With China Can’t Stop It

Kenya’s leading telco, Safaricom, has revealed plans to join hands with Huawei to bring 5G to the East African country. The mobile operator’s acting CEO, Michael Joseph said Safaricom will not pay attention to the warnings of the United States against Huawei.

Huawei is a 5G pioneer, and the Chinese phone maker has made the roll out of the latest generation network in many countries, including South Africa.

But the United States have been on their tail for long, after banning the firm from operating in America and urging European allies to follow suit.

The Trump-led administration has been using its diplomatic might to attempt dissuading African governments from buying into the seemingly attractive technology Huawei builds and sells. But those efforts could be lackluster because the Chinese company has been dealing in Africa since 1998.

Matter of fact, Huawei’s footing in the continent is just as solid as that of its Chinese counterparts like Transsion, OPay and a bullish crop of venture capitalists.

With aggressive expansion, cheap financing strategy and speedy deployment, the firm currently already has 4G flags hoisting in 40 African countries.

Now, Safaricom isn’t paying attention to the security concerns raised by the United States government over Huawei. The present Safaricom boss said that America’s reservations about the 5G is a situation that is not present in Africa.

Joseph also said Safaricom would follow in the guided footsteps of its two main shareholders, which are South Africa’s Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone.

Judging from the corroborated fact that there is now more demand for bandwidth and internet speed, Safaricom could be playing a good game, especially as it is the most-used telco in Kenya. The firm, also currently, is considering spread its reach to Ethiopia.

It won’t be the first time Safaricom and Huawei are marrying for the technology business. The Kenyan firm’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks were built for the Chinese company. More so, M-Pesa – the unofficial first born of mobile payments in the continent – is based on Huawei Mobile Money platform.

The U.S’s obsession with China did not prevent Huawei from signing an agreement with the African Union in May 2019, which reiterated ongoing cooperation with African nations to meet their tech needs.

After a successful partnership with Rain to make 5G alive in South Africa, Egypt and Uganda picked up the pace to bring the cutting-edge connection into their infrastructure.

Image Courtesy: i1.wp