by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – HUAWEI and Kenya have entered a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to enhance technology infrastructure, foster digital talent and bridge the skills gap in the technology sector.
The partnership has been signed in South Africa at the Regional Finals of Huawei’s 2024/2025 ICT Competition and Summit, bringing together outstanding technology talent, educators, and policy makers from across Sub-Saharan Africa in a celebration of digital innovation excellence.
The partnership aims to empower Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions across Kenya.
The MoU was signed by Dr Esther Muoria, Principal Secretary for Kenya’s Ministry of Education, State Department for TVET, and Xu Yongbo, Director of Huawei Southern Africa Strategy and Marketing Department.
“Across Africa, the integration of ICT learning has been recognised as a catalyst for skills development, innovation, and economic transformation,” Muoria said.
She believes it is through structured training, competitions, and industry-aligned programmes that students are being prepared to navigate and excel in this dynamic landscape.
“It is therefore a proud honour for me to join this auspicious occasion to celebrate the remarkable achievements of young ICT talent, whose dedication and excellence continues to shape the digital future of the African continent,” said Muoria.
The event in South Africawas attended by the winning student teams, their instructors, stakeholders from academic institutions across the region and key government partners.
Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, host Minister of Higher Education and Training, delivered the keynote address.
“Digital skills are one of the most critical skills that are desperately required in Africa and governments cannot achieve this without the involvement of private partners like Huawei,” Nkabane said.
The competition showcased talent across network, cloud, computing, and AI innovation tracks, with teams from Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda receiving awards for their performances.
Kenya dominated the grand prizes, securing top honors in both computing and cloud categories, the latter achieved by an all-women team.
Meanwhile Nigeria took home the grand prize for network excellence, and Uganda secured the grand prize in AI innovation.
Additionally, South Africa’s cloud team took home the ICT Future Star Award.
This year’s regional grand prize-winning teams will represent Sub-Saharan Africa at the Global Finals in Shenzhen, China in May 2025
Opening the ceremony, Yang Yongpeng, Director of Huawei Southern Africa Region Human Resource Department, emphasised Huawei’s commitment to bridging the digital divide in Africa.
“The potential of the African digital economy is enormous and it is our common responsibility to ensure more people enjoy the dividends of digital technology,” Yongpeng said.
– CAJ News