Huawei collaborates with the AU to connect the continent

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Chinese multinational ICT solutions provider Huawei has collaborated with the African Union to fast-track better connectivity across the African continent.

Huawei Senior Vice President, Charles Ding met with Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy of the African Union, Elham Ibrahim at the African Union specialised technical committee on Communication and Information Technologies (CCICT) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

During the conference, Ibrahim said: “In January, Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Union to jointly enhance Information and Communication Technology literacy and capability and ICT infrastructure development.

“This would further speed up the realisation of the lofty set goals of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and also we are very grateful of Huawei’s goodwill to offer ICT training for 25 employees of AU in China in the near future. Huawei has also pledged to train up to 1,000 ICT professionals from member states.”

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Ding disclosed Huawei is solidifying efforts over the years with “Our partners on all fronts because we believe that ICT technologies are reshaping Africa and other parts of the world, and leading the next wave of sustainable social development. With our 17 years of experience within Africa’s ICT industry coupled with our extensive industry global network, Huawei is well positioned to share the best practices and latest ICT solutions.

“We hope to support ICT infrastructure deployment and digital transformation practice across the Continent; upgrade labour force qualification and create more jobs through technology hands-on and transference, and provide regulatory policy consultation, including spectrum and licensing policy.

“While strengthening research and development capabilities, we promote people-to-people and technological exchanges, expand investment in the appropriate areas, and consequently to make greater contribution to poverty reduction and regional civilisation.”

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Huawei Ethiopia’s CEO Stone Shi highlighted that the company has released the global connectivity index (GCI), which is granted as the national economy barometer, a strong correlation between a country’s ICT spending and it’s GDP.

Backing up IT infrastructure with expert training will not only ensure that this technology is fully exploited but will also provide a skills stimulus to the countries benefitting from it.

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SOURCE: [The Sun]