Africa is shifting fast. Internet access, once a luxury in many countries, is now steadily becoming a basic necessity—and the numbers show it.

As of early 2025, around 39-40% of Africans are online, up from approximately 28% in 2019, according to Statista. In particular, mobile internet is powering that growth. Sub-Saharan Africa’s mobile internet penetration is about 27%, while the overall mobile subscriptions have reached 44% of the population in that region. The adoption of 4G has been rising steadily, reaching roughly 44.3% adoption, while 5G is expected to expand more widely in the latter half of the decade.

This surge is being powered by the rapid rollout of telecom infrastructure and a growing wave of affordable, mobile-based services. While headlines often spotlight Western tech giants as the drivers of this digital tech revolution, Chinese technology firms like Huawei and ZTE are, in fact, some of the major but quieter players helping to build out the continent’s digital backbone. Chinese companies have increasingly become architects, engineers, and builders of connectivity, laying cables, erecting towers, powering base stations, and providing the devices and systems that make the network usable.

From core network infrastructure and cloud computing to smartphones and e-commerce, Chinese companies are helping to shape how Africans connect, pay, learn, and work.

Below are ten key Chinese players, what they do, and how they are helping drive Africa’s connectivity.

1. Huawei

Huawei, headquartered in Shenzhen, China, has long positioned itself as a cornerstone of Africa’s telecom infrastructure. Its presence is so pervasive that it is estimated to have built over 70% of Africa’s 4G networks and is the leading partner in the emerging 5G rollouts across key markets like Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa.

In Nigeria alone, Huawei has installed about 27,500 communication sites and laid over 10,000 km of fiber optic cables. These deployments aim to serve more than 60% of the population in those served areas, improving both urban and rural access. Beyond Nigeria, Huawei supports many of Africa’s major carriers in the rollout of 4G and increasingly 5G technology. For example, in South Africa, the company has helped deploy over 2,800 5G base stations, making South Africa a kind of regional leader in 5G infrastructure. By combining fixed broadband infrastructure, mobile towers, fiber, and rural wireless solutions, Huawei is helping reduce latency, increase network reliability, and lower the costs per user. Because of their scale, these investments shift whole markets, allowing more people in previously underserved or remote regions to access faster internet.

2. ZTE

ZTE is the second most dominant Chinese provider of telecommunications equipment, frequently competing with Huawei for large government and operator contracts. Also based in Shenzhen, ZTE’s approach complements that of Huawei by targeting places others may consider too challenging. It provides telecom infrastructure, fiber networks, and data solutions in over 40 African nations.

With its Signal Reach Program, ZTE has focused on deploying modular base stations with solar power (EcoSite designs) capable of being set up quickly. In Liberia, ZTE and Orange built 128 base stations in three months, bringing reliable mobile service (voice + 4G) to more than 580,000 rural users. Additionally, ZTE is innovating technically. For instance, they deployed with MTN South Africa the first 5-band Remote Radio Unit (RRU) in the Western Cape. This helps improve spectrum efficiency, reduce power and tower load, and enrich network performance, especially in multi-band environments. Because ZTE is combining energy solutions, modular deployment, and innovative radio equipment, it helps narrow the gap between urban and rural connectivity, reducing costs and speeding up deployment.

3. China Telecom Global (CTG)

Unlike Huawei and ZTE, which primarily supply equipment, China Telecom Global (CTG) is a carrier and service provider. It is the international arm of China’s largest fixed-line operator. Based in Beijing/Hong Kong, CTG has been expanding its African presence since 2015, opening offices in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, and partnering with major local carriers to enhance internet exchange capacity.



CTG provides essential wholesale connectivity services for international carriers and multinational enterprises. This includes Internet Direct Access (IDA), Internet Transit, and Data Services. Crucially, it is a significant player in the data center and cloud service space, partnering with African data center operators (like those in Johannesburg and Nairobi) to offer solutions like its global IoT (Internet of Things) services and cloud computing. As a major global wholesale carrier, CTG helps African operators and businesses maintain secure and efficient networks between Africa and Asia by connecting them directly to its massive global network of submarine and terrestrial cables. Its Global IPX network provides voice and data connectivity that’s especially critical for fintech, logistics, and e-commerce players. As digital trade grows between Africa and Asia, CTG’s role as a backbone carrier ensures that digital services can operate smoothly without latency bottlenecks or security concerns.

4. China Mobile International (CMI)

As the international arm of the world’s largest mobile operator, China Mobile International (CMI) is a major investor in the global backbone that connects the continent to the rest of the world. CMI is a key partner in projects like the 2Africa submarine cable, expected to stretch over 45,000 kilometers, linking 33 countries across Africa, Europe, and Asia. This cable will bring massive capacity (lowering bottlenecks for international traffic) and reduce latency.

Similarly, the PEACE cable (Pakistan East Africa Cable Express) includes CMI among its stakeholders, further enhancing routes between East Africa, Asia, and Europe. Better international links mean improved backbone for local ISPs and governments, making broadband more viable and helping hasten adoption in previously marginal areas by reducing the cost of cross-border connectivity and powering data-heavy services.

5. China Unicom Global (CUG)

China Unicom Global (CUG), the third major state-owned carrier, might not be customer-facing, but it’s another key network backbone provider connecting Africa to Asia via undersea cables. Based in Beijing/Hong Kong, CUG plays a critical wholesale role. Through partnerships and interconnections with African telecom operators, it helps transmit high-volume traffic through terrestrial fiber and international gateways.

While cables and base stations are critical, the flow of data through those routes depends on operators that manage international gateways and ensure stable interconnection. China Unicom’s involvement helps reduce dependency on older, often congested routes, making services faster and more resilient for both businesses and individual users, especially as Africa increasingly interacts with Asia for business, cloud services, and content.

6. HMN Tech (formerly Huawei Marine)

Deep beneath the sea, HMN Tech, formerly Huawei Marine, continues to extend those digital arteries. Though no longer owned by Huawei (it was sold to Hengtong Optic-Electric), the company continues its mission with high-capacity projects like the Pakistan East Africa Cable Express (PEACE) and the South Atlantic Inter Link connecting Cameroon to Brazil.

These systems don’t just serve Africa by providing redundancy and global reach for inland nations that depend on cross-border fiber routes. These cables are essential for increasing Africa’s capacity to host and serve content locally, reducing delays when accessing global platforms, and lowering reliance on distant servers. That has downstream effects: better streaming, better cloud services, faster data backups, improved international commerce, and more affordable internet as supply constraints ease.

7. FiberHome Technologies

FiberHome doesn’t directly offer any connectivity service, but it is a global leader in the manufacturing and supply of optical fiber and cable, the physical medium of the internet.

The Chinese company is a massive OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and supplier to the major telecom infrastructure builders and African MNOs. It provides the actual fiber-optic cables, optical transmission equipment, and access network solutions that Huawei and ZTE then deploy. Their products underpin the fixed-line and mobile backhaul networks that transmit data between cell towers and data centers.

It is a silent enabler. Without the high volume and relatively low-cost supply of FiberHome’s optical products, the rapid, continent-wide deployment of 4G and 5G networks, as executed by the larger vendors, would be significantly slower and more expensive. They ensure the physical capacity needed to handle Africa’s explosion in data demand.

8. TP-Link

Internet access means little without routers. The devices that actually make Wi-Fi connectivity possible, and TP-Link dominates this space. Headquartered in Shenzhen, TP-Link has become the most widely used router brand in Africa, a quiet but vital enabler of home and small business connectivity. Whether it’s a startup or a family home, chances are a TP-Link router is handling the connection.

Over the past five years, TP-Link has expanded its distribution channels through partnerships with African wholesalers and telecom operators, ensuring that its routers, switches, and wireless access points are readily available and affordable. This affordability factor matters in countries where data bundles are expensive; TP-Link’s routers make it easier for households to share connections, reducing the effective cost per user. Its newer product lines, such as 4G/5G LTE routers, are also helping businesses connect in areas where fiber hasn’t yet reached. Through these low-cost networking solutions, TP-Link effectively turns the promise of connectivity into a daily reality.

9. Transsion Holdings

You might not know Transsion, but you definitely know its brands: Tecno, Infinix, and Itel. While not an infrastructure provider in the sense of laying cables, Transsion is arguably the most critical company for end-user connectivity in Africa and provides the mobile gateway to the Internet for many Africans.

Their affordable devices are the primary vehicle through which hundreds of millions of Africans gain their first access to the internet, driving the explosion of mobile data consumption and digital services that the infrastructure companies (Huawei/ZTE) have built the foundation for. While Western brands often focused on high-end consumers, Transsion took a radically different path, designing phones specifically for African markets (e.g., strong batteries for unstable power, dual SIM slots, camera software tuned for darker skin tones).

As of 2024, Transsion controls about 45% of Africa’s smartphone market, a commanding lead over Samsung, Xiaomi, and Apple combined. Beyond handsets, Transsion is becoming a digital ecosystem builder through its mobile app platforms like PalmPay (fintech) and Boomplay (music streaming), expanding from hardware to digital services.

10. StarTimes

Where others build data networks, StarTimes extends digital access through television. The company, headquartered in Beijing, is a major Chinese media company and the leading digital television operator across Africa.

While many firms focus on broadband and mobile internet infrastructure, StarTimes tackles another critical layer of connectivity: content distribution and media access. The company has helped several African nations migrate from analog to digital television through both DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) and DTH (Direct-to-Home) platforms.

It does this by offering affordable pay-TV and digital terrestrial broadcasting to tens of millions of homes in over 30 African countries.

StarTimes’ rollout dovetails with Huawei’s and ZTE’s broadband efforts; the same fiber that carries internet data often supports its content delivery.

The company often partners with national broadcasters in joint ventures to build and operate digital broadcasting networks. This role is vital for optimizing broadcast spectrum and diversifying entertainment, news, and educational content across the continent. StarTimes has also been involved in Chinese soft-power initiatives, like the “Access to Satellite TV for 10,000 African villages” project, ensuring a significant Chinese media presence across the continent.

China’s Evolving Role in Africa’s Infrastructure Landscape

China has been instrumental in building the backbone of Africa’s connectivity, shaping how the continent moves, powers up, and now, goes online.. Its companies are embedding themselves into the continent’s economic DNA, helping millions get online, start businesses, and join the digital economy.

But China’s footprint in Africa runs well beyond telecoms or connectivity. Over the past two decades, it has helped finance and build the railways, roads, ports, and power grids that knit the continent together. According to data from the China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), Chinese lenders have committed more than USD 160 B to African infrastructure since 2000. Investments that have set the stage for a new, digital phase of engagement.

That same ambition is playing out in the telecom industry. From Huawei’s 4G and 5G networks to Transsion’s low-cost smartphones and China Mobile’s subsea cables, Chinese tech firms have become key players in Africa’s connectivity boom, linking millions to the internet and digital services for the first time.

Yet this deep integration brings new challenges. As Chinese technology and financing become the foundation of Africa’s digital systems, questions of dependency, data sovereignty, and long-term leverage are emerging. Many African economies now rely on Chinese-built infrastructure, both physical and digital, raising debates over how much control the continent truly holds over its digital future.

For now, though, China has become central to Africa’s connectivity story and a power broker in the continent’s next phase of growth.