Kenya to Continue Working with Huawei on

ICT Minister Joe Mucheru says the Kenyan government vetted the 5G networks built by Huawei and they ‘met set standards’. Photo: Handout

Kenya to Continue Working with Huawei on 5G Roll-out, IT Minister Says

By Jevans Nyabiage

KENYA WILL CONTINUE to work with Huawei Technologies Co. on 5G, the country’s IT minister said on Friday, despite a US-led campaign to shut the Chinese fi rm out of global networks.

Speaking at the launch of Safaricom’s new superfast 5G service in Nairobi and towns across western Kenya, ICT Minister Joe Mucheru said the government had “vetted the networks built by companies such as Huawei and they met set standards”.

Safaricom, which is Kenya’s largest telecoms company and part-owned by British fi rm Vodafone, said it planned to increase its 5G

coverage to more than 150 locations in nine

towns over the next 12 months.

Many of its systems, as well as those of other network operators in Kenya, were built by Huawei. Elsewhere in the world, notably the US and Britain, the Chinese tech giant has faced accusations its networks could be used for spying and were therefore a threat to national security.

“As a government we are aware of the questions about suppliers and technology, but some of them are more about politics than technology,” Mucheru said.

“We have been working with these partners for a long time … and we cannot say we have had any challenges or questions about the security of the technology.”

Safaricom said that as well as partnering with Huawei it would use equipment made by Finnish company Nokia Corporation for its 5G roll-out.

While that could be seen as a way to limit the Chinese fi rm’s infl uence, Derrick Chikanga, an IT services analyst at consulting company Africa Analysis, said it was more to do with technology than politics.

Safaricom simply wanted to “leverage the technological capabilities of both Huawei and Nokia”, he said.

Now that Huawei had established a presence in Africa, it was likely to play “a key role in the development and deployment of 5G technology” on the continent, he said.

Kenya is the second sub-Saharan African country to roll out 5G. Last year, South Africa’s data-only mobile network, Rain, introduced its fi rst commercial stand-alone network, developed in partnership with Huawei.

The Chinese fi rm also worked with MTN Group on the launch of 5G networks in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth.

But Huawei’s relationship with Africa is nothing new. Before becoming the focus of a geopolitical dispute, it had been operating there for more than 22 years, providing half the continent with 4G services and building a presence in 40 of its 54 countries.

Roger Entner, lead analyst at US-based Recon Analytics, said that as the dominant player in Africa’s 4G mobile networks, Huawei was the obvious choice for nations looking to roll out 5G.

“Incumbency is a very powerful position,” he said. “Huawei is likely to take the lion’s share of 5G contracts in Africa.”

com plans to increase its 5G coverage to more than 150 locations over the next year. Photo: Reuters

However, while the Chinese fi rm was dominant in Africa’s 4G networks – each of which is customised to a specifi c operator – introducing new 5G partners could weaken that position, Entner said.

“By using other vendors, the mobile networks become more interoperable and that opens the door to eventually replace Huawei.” www.scmp. com/news/china/ diplomacy/ article/3127307/ kenya-continueworking-huawei-5groll-out-it-ministersays