The Trump administration will provide a $99.6 million loan to Africell through the Export-Import Bank to support the only American-owned telecommunications company operating in Africa.

The financing aims to enable Africell to invest in the latest mobile network technology from American and allied suppliers, according to a draft press release and a person familiar with the matter. The move comes as the U.S. works to counter the dominance of China's Huawei in the region.

Africell operates in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Gambia, serving approximately 15 million subscribers. The loan will specifically support network upgrades in Angola using equipment from U.S. and European providers.

"We are pleased to be working with EXIM to introduce more trusted and secure communications infrastructure to our operating markets," said Ziad Dalloul, CEO of Africell Holding Limited.

Huawei holds about 52 percent of the 5G infrastructure market share in Africa, according to Counterpoint Research. The U.S. has raised national security concerns about the Chinese firm and sanctioned it over allegations of potential spying, which Huawei denies.

The loan aligns with the Trump administration's "clean network" initiative from its first term and a 2025 executive order directing U.S. agencies to promote American technology abroad in areas including networking and data centers. Africell previously received U.S. financing in 2018 to expand its operations.

Huawei and the Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new loan.