China spurs Africa's ICT development to drive economic growth

Leading global tech firm Huawei has announced the winners of its ICT Competition in Ethiopia and Uganda. The competition is part of Huawei's cooperation with African universities, which has enabled thousands of university students to obtain Huawei ICT certification, making them better candidates for ICT-related jobs.

Speaking at an award ceremony held in Kampala, capital of Uganda, over the weekend, Robinah Nabbanja, Uganda's prime minister, thanked investors from China for helping the country with its development of ICT, which will help the economy amid the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I thank Huawei because it has given students the opportunity to learn skills that are recognized in the world of ICT, thereby providing us a platform to experience and practice new innovative and cutting-edge technology to grow and develop ourselves," Nabbanja said.

In Ethiopia, Huawei announced the winners of the ICT Competition in the country, entitled "Connection, Glory, Future." The competition was officially launched on May 26, following Huawei's strategy to develop Ethiopia's ICT talent and innovation ecosystem.

"The competition is a unique opportunity for students to test their abilities in these cutting-edge fields, and helps colleges and universities to better understand the talent requirements of today's top businesses and government leaders. This competition showcases our commitment to cultivate the ICT talent ecosystem in Ethiopia and across Africa," Chen Mingiliang, Huawei Ethiopia's chief executive, said at the ceremony held in Addis Ababa.

Over the years in the African region, Huawei has signed cooperation agreements with over 250 universities in 14 Sub-Saharan countries establishing Huawei ICT academies. In Uganda alone, over 2,000 students have been trained and hundreds have been certified, giving them an advantage and upper hand in getting ICT-related jobs.

Last week, China further pledged to work with Africa to formulate and implement a unique partnership program on digital innovation. In a statement released by Deng Li, China's assistant foreign minister, the program will see Beijing explore broader cooperation with Africa in new business forms, such as digital economy, smart city and 5G technology.

He added China will further support Africa in raising the level of digitization in the public and corporate sectors while promoting industrialization by applying new technologies, such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence and mobile payment.