Huawei’s CEO for North Africa, Terry He (photo), struck a defiant tone in a recent interview with the French newsweekly Le Point about the challenges the telecom giant is facing from the United States and its business prospects in Africa amid the ongoing pandemic:
Huawei has not slowed down the development of any of its projects in Africa. The inauguration in June 2021 of the data center in Senegal is a fine illustration. Our activities are all predicated on the digital boom generated by the pandemic, which has increased the needs of both public and private customers for internet access and digital infrastructure.
Even though Huawei’s mobile phone sales have cratered in Africa since the company was blocked by the U.S. government from using Google’s Android operating system, He said that he’s nonetheless confident that African consumers will take to the company’s alternative HarmonyOS. “It is important to point out that we did not build another Linux, Android or iOS: we are developing the next generation operating system for the future,” he said.
Given the fact that there are still no HarmonyOS phones available for sale in Africa yet (only watches and tablets are in stores), it’s still too early to determine if He’s optimism is warranted.
