Meg Whitman, who previously served as the CEO of HP and eBay, and is currently the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, has emphasized the importance of counterbalancing China’s influence in Africa.
Whitman stated that during her time as a CEO, she hardly ever thought about Africa, but now her perspective has completely changed. Of course, this attitude is common among U.S. tech companies. The main reasons for this issue are the unstable governments, changing regimes, and inadequate infrastructure in the countries on the continent.
However, as Whitman pointed out during her ambassadorship, America has not shown enough presence in Africa over the past 20 years.
“Half the battle is showing up, and I don’t think America showed up quite as much as we might have in the last 20 years,” she said. “We left an open running room for China.”
In recent years, China’s influence has become more pronounced, particularly through its Digital Silk Road project, which aims to spread Chinese technology first in Africa and then around the world. The most prominent company involved in this project is undoubtedly Huawei Technologies Co. The telecommunications, internet networks, and new technology centers they have established form the foundation of this initiative.
However, as Whitman mentioned, this technological advancement has recently been recognized by America, which has started to develop strategies in response during the last two presidential administrations.
One of the most significant examples of this is the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which Trump established in 2019. The following year, a $300 million investment was made in Africa Data Centres.
Since then, the agency has allocated $11 billion to sub-Saharan Africa, which includes a $225 million investment in the parent company of Africa Data Centres for the construction of fiber optic cables for data centers across seven nations.
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