Why Huawei's Google woes worry Africa

A Huawei logo displayed at a retail store in Beijing, China on May 20, 2019. Google's decision to withhold its Android software from Huawei is being seen as the beginning of a technology cold war. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• US President Donald Trump has been leading a public campaign urging American allies to cut ties with Huawei.
• The US campaign could spark what Eric Schmidt, Google's former CEO, predicted would be the inevitable bifurcation of the internet, between a "Chinese-led internet and a non-Chinese internet led by America".

By BBC
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Google's decision to withhold its Android software from Huawei is being seen as the beginning of a technology cold war that could compel African countries – in the future – to choose between US and Chinese technology, analysts have told the BBC.

Most Africans connecting to the internet today are likely to be using a Chinese smartphone, powered by a Chinese-built network, and at least half of the time, it was built by Chinese tech giant, Huawei.

"Huawei built huge swathes of Africa's current IT infrastructure and if the US is successful in crippling the company, the aftershocks could be very painful for Africa's burgeoning tech sector that now relies on a company in Washington's crosshairs," Eric Olander, from the South Africa-based China Africa project, says.

US CAMPAIGN

US President Donald Trump has been leading a public campaign urging American allies to cut ties with Huawei, saying the company's technology, among other things, was a security risk because it allowed the Chinese government to spy.

The company has repeatedly denied the claims.