Why African 5G Should Be A Priority for the United States

While U.S. foreign policy continues to be dominated by China, the United States has largely overlooked and sidelined the continent where China has been working to bolster its engagement and policies for many years. If President Trump’s 2018 s—hole comment did not sum up Africa’s standing in U.S. foreign policy, then one can look at everything from the glaringly obvious lack of an official visit to the continent by the president, to the gutting of USAID and funding to other international organizations from which Africa receives significant aid to see that the continent ranks disappointingly low on the U.S. national priorities list. Instead, U.S. foreign policy is absorbed with countering China’s social, economic, and political influence across the globe, and more specifically, the threat China poses regarding 5G and critical infrastructure. Yet, in doing so, the United States has left a significant void in this realm that China is happily filling. As a result, Africa has become heavily reliant on China for telecommunications and technology which poses significant implications to U.S. foreign policy in the future.

Fifth-generation telecommunications will dramatically change the way that Africa and the global community operates, touching deeper aspects of human connectivity in ways that were never thought imaginable. All types of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, industrial control systems, as well as autonomous-driving cars are all hinging on the incredible speed 5G will usher into mobile networks. As a result, it has increasingly become a focus of U.S. agencies across the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, and Department of Defense as it pulls in not only technological implications but larger geopolitical ones as well. To date, the United States and other major allies have already vowed to oust Chinese telecommunications enterprises like Huawei and ZTE from establishing 5G infrastructure in their respective countries. Yet, while this whole-of-team commitment is resonating throughout many Western countries, the sentiment is not widely shared in Africa. Instead, many African nations already favor Chinese technological financing and aid over the United States because of its condition-free nature, making it increasingly difficult for the United States to penetrate the market. This means that while the United States may try and offer loans and other means of financing to lure countries away from China, these nations will ultimately choose the most appealing deal with the least strings attached.

Another fundamental issue that the United States needs to recognize is that Africa is the future. Currently, Africa’s population is set to double by 2050, with some reports indicating that by that time, 1 in 4 people in the world will be African. That will mean that while Africa may not be a foreign policy priority for the United States presently, within the next 30 years, it will have to be. Yet, even now, Africa possesses a young, dynamic population that is slowly becoming one of the largest groups of internet users. In June 2019 alone, it was reported that more people in Africa accessed the internet than did in the Middle East, Latin America, and even North America. That number is steadily increasing as more Africans gain access to technology.

While this occurs, China recognizes the vast potential of African countries and has made Africa a foreign policy priority in many respects. China seeks to maintain a robust relationship with its African allies through partnerships like the Forum for Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Paired with a consistent stream of high-level visits to various African states, China has arguably focused much of its attention and resources to Africa. As a result, China has been largely granted access to establish the core systems of new information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure across Africa. Thanks to projects like those within China’s Digital Silk Road Initiative, China has already financed over $5 billion worth of technology infrastructure across Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Zambia and has established more than a dozen Smart City Initiatives across the continent.

While the United States continues to tout the narrative that Chinese 5G technology is damaging to democracy and places states at an adverse risk of being monitored by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) unknowingly, the United States seems unable or unwilling to address these concerns with African leaders. In fact, overwhelmingly, the engagement with African states on issues of technology and cybersecurity is in a word: deficient. Instead, the United States, through the State Department, in conjunction with U.S. agencies such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Department of Defense’s Cyber Command, should make a concerted effort to connect with its African counterparts and engage on topics relating to cybersecurity, industrial control systems, and critical infrastructure. Many African leaders have already been courted by China and are quickly favoring Chinese financing and investment over the United States, but that should not mean that they should be axed from the United States’ engagement list or dropped as a regional priority. 

Next, the upcoming administration should work to repair the United States’ relationship with Africa. Blacklisting an entire continent as a s—hole turns African nations off from wanting to engage with the United States and pushes them towards alternatives like China. To help fix the damage done, the next administration must make an official visit to the continent as well as work to engage African leaders via invitations to the White House. Otherwise, Africa will continue to find refuge in Chinese financing and investment, as well as its directed attention, which will prove detrimental to any future engagement by the United States.

Finally, if the United States really wishes to stem the spread of Chinese 5G technology, it should work with its allies to extend other 5G providers like Nokia and Ericsson into African states and other developing nations as well as to collaborate on making these providers more versatile and affordable in remote regions. Currently, Huawei is the leading provider of 5G mobile technology in the world. Even though Huawei claims to be a privately-owned enterprise, because of its historical ties to the Chinese government, it has experienced significant tax breaks and financing as well as unparalleled access to African markets making it a key player of 5G on the continent. Additionally, one of Huawei’s leading advantages is its affordability and experience working in remote areas. Thus, while the United States may consistently point to the threat Chinese 5G technology poses, without a more viable solution, African networks will increasingly turn to China to usher in the era of 5G in their countries.

In all, while Africa is poised to be a strategic region going deeper into the twenty-first century, it is evident that without dramatic change, U.S. foreign policy will continue to sideline the continent. Ultimately, the next administration must work towards repairing U.S.-African relations going forward or else the United States risks massive losses in terms of strategic engagement with African states on topics related to emerging technologies and 5G in the future. And the longer Africa remains at the bottom of the United States’ priority list, the higher it moves on China’s. China will inevitably continue to fill the void that the United States has created in the region, which means that while U.S. foreign policy is absorbed with countering Chinese influence, it risks forfeiting engagement with a region that is largely at the center of China’s overall foreign policy.