Is China Wiring Africa For Surveillance?

Daniel_Stuckey writes "Huawei has invested billions of dollars in Africa over the last two decades, providing affordable cell phones, internet access, and telecommunications networks to the continent. Over the last few months Huawei has closed major deals in Africa to get more areas on the grid. The company says it's bridging the digital divide, but others suspect it's wiring the continent for surveillance."

Comments

But there's nothing to listen to in Africa

[mveloso]

Nobody cares enough about Africa to listen in on them. The only thing Africa has is resources, and China already is buying them. Is the infrastructure subject to surveillance? Sure, but every infrastructure is, even heterogeneous ones like the US.

Re:But there's nothing to listen to in Africa

[AHuxley]

Resources need deals signed with local leaders. Smart local experts will chatter about the quality of the deal, some been more into nationalism and patriotism than any bribe can alter.
They will do the math with the local press - the cost of a university, hospital, roads, new mines, power, rail vs the true long term total export value.
Such experts and their press contacts need to be found and shown the error of their ways.
Any African country doing huge deals with a France, UK, USA, Russia knows the part they have to play. Empty ships arrive, full ships depart, the local leadership is looked after and a few locals get jobs.
You had South Africa, Cuba, East Germany all playing the aid/spy card too.
Vietnam, China mostly went for long term farm aid and very long term friendship.
The visions of Moscow, London and Washington have usually been the same, influence, shared mil bases, listening stations, blocking China/France/Japan.
What can leaders in Africa do?
Sell out to mines/oil backed by US banks and loans with a few nice people from MI6/CIA to ensure its stays good.
Sell out to mines/oil backed by Russian loans with a few nice people from FSB/KGB to ensure its all good.
Sell out to mines/oil backed by China with a lots of nice new experts, workers and useful infrastructure ensure its all good.
Add in arms dealers, political and faith based groups who feel timber, oil, gems and strategic minerals are much better looked after in Paris, London, Washington.
So you have a lot of groups who dont want the locals getting too vocal.

Re:But there's nothing to listen to in Africa

[moronoxyd]

Resources need deals signed with local leaders. Smart local experts will chatter about the quality of the deal, some been more into nationalism and patriotism than any bribe can alter.

So why is nobody suspecting surveillance when a US or European company is building communication infrastructure somewhere?
They have exactly the same interest in knowing about this chatter as China.

It could be worse

[obarthelemy]

They could be propping up regimes that routinely use torture and abuse human rights, and randomly killing innocents with drones. But then there'd be nothing left for the US to do...

Re:Exfiltrate Africa?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you just wanted an excuse to use the mostly unknown word "exfiltrate." Your post doesn't actually say anything at all.....

Zero content article

[jma05]

Exactly why do we discuss articles like this? There is zero evidence so far that China is doing mass surveillance outside of China.

The articles acknowledges it, and asks questions that cannot be answered, while providing no new insights.

Re:Different approaches to aid

[rahvin112]

It's Chinese colonialism. They are doing EXACTLY what the Europeans did. Just like the Europeans the Africans will be happy to allow them until they realize none of the jobs are going to them and that the infrastructure is simply to facilitate resource exploitation, just like the Europeans.

Re:Exfiltrate Africa?

[interkin3tic]

The NSA, facebook, and google seem to demonstrate that spying on everyone requires shockingly little investment and gets good returns even when you don't know exactly what you want to find in your spying.

Plus, there seem to be a lot of stuff that is worth knowing. There's oil and other natural resources in Africa, right? Seems like intercepting geological reports within western companies, or whoever, about where the oil might be could be very advantageous to China.

Re:Exfiltrate Africa?

[TubeSteak]

I guess if it comes for free, that's one thing, but how much money do you think China wants to invest exfiltrating data from Africa as opposed to their first-world competitors?

Right. Because first-world companies don't do any business in Africa.

Alternatively, China is investing in Africa for the long haul, because China desperately wants access to Africa's vast natural resources. Many African Governments include infrastructure projects as a requirement for Chinese acquisitions or in trade deals with China.

Re:Exfiltrate Africa?

[icebike]

Maybe Huawei is finding itself shut out of western markets for fear of backdoors and stolen code, that the best market they can find is selling to their own government's aid programs.

Re: Exfiltrate Africa?

[icebike]

There's less money in Africa than elsewhere, but by the same token, there is less entrenched competition there as well.

Who ever gets there firstest with the mostest has a great chance of owning the continent. It might not be profitable this year or this decade, but sooner or later they will be the entrenched company.