US companies win billions in African data center deals in direct competition with China

The United States is winning a growing share of major data centre and energy infrastructure deals across Africa, positioning American firms as direct rivals to China in a continent-wide technology and trade contest. The Trump administration's Bureau of African Affairs says it has helped close 37 commercial transactions worth a combined $25.67 billion (£20.3 billion) since the start of the president's second term, with US officials framing the push as offering African nations a fairer alternative to Chinese investment, which they characterise as exploitative.

Among the largest deals is a $6.2 billion (£4.9 billion) agreement in Lesotho, secured by American firm Convalt Energy, covering a 1,200MW pumped-storage hydropower plant and a 900MW AI data centre — the biggest transaction in the country's history, expected to boost its electricity generation capacity roughly sixteenfold. In Gabon, US-backed firms have won around $700 million (£554 million) in contracts, including $100 million (£79 million) for two data centres and a gas-to-power plant. China remains the dominant trading partner overall, with Beijing reporting $348 billion (£275 billion) in Africa trade last year against $83.4 billion (£66 billion) for the US, and it retains deep financial ties in countries such as Lesotho through tariff exemptions and debt cancellations.