Zambian students upbeat about Huawei’s Global Final ICT Competition

After putting up a good fight during the Southern Africa Huawei ICT Regional Competition, Zambia is joining Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa for the November 6, 2020 Global Final ICT Competition to be held virtually.

Huawei made the announcement at the virtual Award giving ceremony which was held on October 29, 2020.

The Tanzanian, Ugandan, Nigerian and South African teams stood out from more than 40 African teams during the fierce regional competition. This year, more than 50,000 students from 14 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa participated Huawei ICT Competition, the biggest attendance so far. The move to online also allowed more students to be part of this event.

Mr. Hou Tao, Global Vice President of Huawei, highlighted the impressive enthusiasm of the students, which is much needed to for Africa’s digital inclusion in the era when the gravity of workplace skills is already shifting online. “As a private company serving the African market for over 20 years, Huawei has dedicated itself to and will always remain a trusted partner of governments and academia in building ICT talent pool, strengthening capacity building and increasing people’s digital competence. “ says Mr. Hou.

After five years of development, The Huawei ICT Competition has become one of the biggest event of its kind in Africa. The competition covers latest technologies such as cloud computing, AI, mobile networks, big data, that are pertinent to students’ competitiveness in the job market.

Speaking in another development, Huawei Zambia Director of Public Relations Hansen He says he remains confident that the Zambian team will put up a spirited fight on that global stage. Mr. He says Zambia’s qualification is a clear indication that the team does not only have academic talent but also the budding much needed expertise that will transform the future of Zambia’s ICT sector.

Over the past five years, Huawei has signed cooperation agreements with over 250 universities in 14 Sub-Saharan countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. This cooperation has enabled more than 7,000 university students obtain Huawei ICT certification, which makes them better candidates for ICT-related jobs.

Vincent Waiswa Bagiire, the Permanent Secretary in the Ugandan Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and National Guidance said ICT can surely bring substantial increases of productivity to address the country’s most urgent needs, and the development of

human capital is extremely important. He therefore applauded Huawei for its contribution in this regard by strengthening Uganda’s capacity build with ICT competition and training.

Mr. Darius Mogaka Ogutu, Director of University Education and Research at Kenya Ministry of Education, speaks highly of Huawei’s role in “collaboration between private sector and universities, especially when that private sector is one of the world’s leaders in that field,” he also commends the real impact brought by Huawei’s talent strategy for enabling “tens of thousands of other students across the region, by learning and practicing their ICT knowledge and skills through this innovative format.”

Speaking as the representative of the university educators, Prof. Funso Falade, President of African Engineering Education Association (AEEA) acknowledged Huawei’s constructive role in addressing the Africa’s needs during the pandemic. “The skills development opportunities provided by Huawei are in line with AEEA goals and aspirations for our students in a critical area which we now require a lot of expertise in Africa, now more than ever due to the disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to our educational system.” he added.

From November 6 to 8, the 13 Sub-Saharan African teams will attend the Global Final online. Young ICT students from Africa can demonstrate their exceptional talent and innovation, and compete on behalf of their countries and continent with more than 300 peers from around the world.

Source: Huawei (Zambia)