Eswatini becomes Africa’s first country to join Trump’s Clean Network
The Kingdom of Eswatini has become the first African country to join the outgoing Trump administration’s “Clean Network” programme – an initiative aimed at limiting Chinese companies from access to sensitive sectors such as cloud computing and 5G mobile networks.
In a joint statement, the countries say Eswatini’s minister of commerce, industry and trade, and acting minister of information, communications and technology, Manqoba Khumalo, and US undersecretary of state, Keith Krach, agreed on the importance of securing telecommunications infrastructure and ensuring safe technology supply chains based on internationally-accepted digital trust standards.
They expressed their commitment to safeguarding each country’s national security by excluding high-risk digital equipment suppliers.
Under the “Clean Network” programme, the US government has been targeting Chinese tech giants such as Huawei and ZTE, accusing them of posing national security risks because of their alleged close ties with the Chinese government.
