Chinese tech companies are now the most important players in Africa’s rapid emergence as one of the world’s fastest growing digital markets. People’s Republic of China companies, private and state-owned, are working with local telecom operators across Africa to build powerful new data hubs to accommodate the surge in Internet traffic, wiring up the continent with new fiber optic connections, and selling enormous quantities of low-cost smartphones that make it possible for millions of consumers to go online for the first time.