Africell is set to receive nearly $100 million in financing from the United States Export-Import Bank to expand its telecommunications infrastructure across African markets using technology from American and allied suppliers.
According to Reuters, the financing is part of a wider U.S. effort to strengthen the presence of non-Huawei telecommunications equipment in Africa, where Chinese technology company Huawei holds a significant share of the 5G infrastructure market.
The loan will allow Africell, described by Reuters as Africa’s only American-owned telecoms company, to invest in newer mobile network technology across its operating markets.
Africell Holding Limited CEO Ziad Dalloul welcomed the financing and said the company was working with the U.S. Export-Import Bank to introduce more secure communications infrastructure.
“We are pleased to be working with EXIM to introduce more trusted and secure communications infrastructure to our operating markets,” Dalloul said, according to a draft press release reviewed by Reuters.
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Founded in 2001, Africell currently serves about 15 million customers across Angola, The Gambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, giving the financing potential relevance across several African telecommunications markets.
The company has previously sourced technology from companies including HP, Nokia, Dell and Oracle for a data centre in Angola.
The latest financing comes as the United States continues efforts to encourage countries to use alternatives to Chinese telecommunications equipment.
Washington has imposed extensive sanctions on Huawei over allegations that its technology could be used to spy on users, claims the Chinese company has denied.
Huawei remains a major force in Africa’s telecommunications industry. According to Counterpoint Research data cited by Reuters, the company holds about 52% of Africa’s 5G infrastructure market.
That position has made telecommunications infrastructure another area of competition between the United States and China as both countries seek deeper economic and technological relationships across Africa.
The Africell financing also follows a U.S. executive order issued in 2025 directing American agencies to promote U.S. technology internationally across areas including artificial intelligence, data centre storage, cloud services and networking.
For Africell, the latest loan builds on previous U.S. financial support.
The company received a $100 million loan in 2018 from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which later became the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, to expand its communications infrastructure.
The new financing would provide another significant pool of capital as Africell develops its networks across its four African operating markets.
What This Means For Africa
The proposed financing could give Africell additional capacity to invest in telecommunications infrastructure serving millions of customers across West, Central and Southern Africa.
It also highlights the growing strategic importance of Africa’s digital infrastructure as global powers compete over the technology used to build mobile networks, data centres and other communications systems.
For African countries, that competition could create more options for financing and technology partnerships as demand for reliable digital infrastructure continues to expand.
At the same time, decisions about telecommunications suppliers involve more than financing. Cost, network performance, security, local capacity and long-term infrastructure needs will remain important considerations for governments and operators.
With Africell operating across four African countries and Huawei holding a major share of the continent’s 5G infrastructure market, the nearly $100 million loan places Africa’s telecommunications sector at the centre of a wider contest over the technologies supporting its digital future.
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Image Credit: AfricellGm
