Huawei tech to be scrutinised - Simataa
Information minister Stanley Simataa says government is not taking any chances when it comes to security concerns about Huawei devices.
Simataa acknowledged that cybersecurity was a big concern when quizzed, and said the relevant authorities would scrutinise Huawei's equipment. He was speaking on the sidelines yesterday of Huawei Africa head Chen Lei's visit to State House, where the Chinese company donated N$300 000 towards Namibia's drought relief efforts.
The telecommunications company has come under scrutiny because of fears that it could potentially use its technology for surveillance on behalf of the Chinese government. In January 2018, the Financial Times reported that African Union officials accused China of hacking its headquarters' computer systems every night for five years and downloading confidential data. Beijing funded the AU's US$200-million building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while a Chinese state-owned company built it. According to the newspaper, “analysts said the fact that the hack remained secret for a year after being discovered and that the AU was not commenting publicly demonstrated China's dominant relationships with African states.” The data theft was exposed by French newspaper Le Monde Afrique. China denied the accusation.
“The hack underscores the risk African nations take in allowing Chinese technology companies such prominent roles in developing their telecoms backbones, despite the US placing restrictions on investment by Huawei and ZTE. The two companies have built most of Africa's telecoms infrastructure, according to a McKinsey report on Chinese investment in Africa published last year (2017).”
Moreover, Huawei was restricted from participating in the future development of Australia and America's telecommunications networks from August 2018 and May 2019, respectively.
This stems from apparent Australian and US government concerns that Huawei infrastructure could allow the Chinese government to collect foreign intelligence and sensitive information, as well as sabotage economic interests. More recently, US companies were banned from engaging with Huawei by that country's department of commerce, which threatened Huawei's use of Android technology in its cellular phones.
“We will see whether the equipment is safe and secure… we are not taking it lock, stock and barrel,” Simaata said yesterday. Huawei senior vice-president for southern Africa, Luo Lei, said last year during a ceremony to mark Huawei's 10-year partnership with local telecommunications provider MTC that they were interested in providing Namibia with 5G technology.
“We would also like to work with MTC to maximally utilise its infrastructures to benefit Namibians with ICT solutions like Safe City to make cities safer,” Lei said at the time.
JEMIMA BEUKES
Simataa acknowledged that cybersecurity was a big concern when quizzed, and said the relevant authorities would scrutinise Huawei's equipment. He was speaking on the sidelines yesterday of Huawei Africa head Chen Lei's visit to State House, where the Chinese company donated N$300 000 towards Namibia's drought relief efforts.
The telecommunications company has come under scrutiny because of fears that it could potentially use its technology for surveillance on behalf of the Chinese government. In January 2018, the Financial Times reported that African Union officials accused China of hacking its headquarters' computer systems every night for five years and downloading confidential data. Beijing funded the AU's US$200-million building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while a Chinese state-owned company built it. According to the newspaper, “analysts said the fact that the hack remained secret for a year after being discovered and that the AU was not commenting publicly demonstrated China's dominant relationships with African states.” The data theft was exposed by French newspaper Le Monde Afrique. China denied the accusation.
“The hack underscores the risk African nations take in allowing Chinese technology companies such prominent roles in developing their telecoms backbones, despite the US placing restrictions on investment by Huawei and ZTE. The two companies have built most of Africa's telecoms infrastructure, according to a McKinsey report on Chinese investment in Africa published last year (2017).”
Moreover, Huawei was restricted from participating in the future development of Australia and America's telecommunications networks from August 2018 and May 2019, respectively.
This stems from apparent Australian and US government concerns that Huawei infrastructure could allow the Chinese government to collect foreign intelligence and sensitive information, as well as sabotage economic interests. More recently, US companies were banned from engaging with Huawei by that country's department of commerce, which threatened Huawei's use of Android technology in its cellular phones.
“We will see whether the equipment is safe and secure… we are not taking it lock, stock and barrel,” Simaata said yesterday. Huawei senior vice-president for southern Africa, Luo Lei, said last year during a ceremony to mark Huawei's 10-year partnership with local telecommunications provider MTC that they were interested in providing Namibia with 5G technology.
“We would also like to work with MTC to maximally utilise its infrastructures to benefit Namibians with ICT solutions like Safe City to make cities safer,” Lei said at the time.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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