Huawei has launched an ICT competition in Nigeria in partnership with local universities with the aim of cultivating local ICT talents, promoting a greater understanding of and interest in ICT, and developing a healthy ecosystem for the sustainable growth of ICT sector. This is the first time the leading global ICT solutions provider is bringing the global event to Nigeria.
Over 10,000 students from over 15 universities are expected to participate in the contest with various subjects including Cloud Computing, artificial intelligence, mobile networks, and big data.
The competition which was launched at the “Nigeria ICT Talents Development Summit and Huawei ICT Competition Launching Ceremony ” in Abuja, had critical stakeholders in the ICT industry including Hon. Minister Of Communication Dr. Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu, FNCS; Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Zhao Linxiang; Vice President of Huawei Public Relations, Xue Man; General Manager of Huawei Abuja Office, Nigeria, Tank Li; Chairman of the Nigerian University Management Committee Prof. Abubakar Rasheed; and presidents of participating universities.
Speaking at the ICT Competition Launching Ceremony, Minister of Communication, Dr. Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu said “This is an epoch-making event for several reasons, the most significant of which is that the present government in Nigeria is easily the first government since the country’s independence to come on stage by leveraging the benefits of the digital revolution in partnership with Huawei as a leading global supplier of ICT products and solutions.”
“The development of the ICT industry is important for the economic and social development of the country and the improvement of people’s lives. Improving ICT infrastructure and cultivating talents in the ICT industry are key measures for the country to achieve rapid development” he said.
Zhao Linxiang, Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Nigeria, noted that Nigeria’s ICT development momentum is rapid. According to him, “Huawei, as an excellent enterprise in China, has been participating actively in Nigeria’s national ICT planning and construction, supporting the vision of ‘Nigeria ICT Transformation’ to be realized soon.
Tank Li, General Manager of Huawei Abuja Office, Nigeria, said, “Building a pool of high-quality ICT talent is a critical success factor for governments aiming to transition to knowledge-based economies. As one of the world’s leading innovators, knowledge transfer has always been a core pillar of the Huawei ethos”.
“We created this platform to demonstrate that the young talents in Nigeria have the potential to mature into world-class experts. By enhancing industry-academic cooperation, we hope to make contributions to achieving the country’s development goals.” Tank Li said.
At the event, 5 universities, University of Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello University, Lead City University, America University of Nigeria and Federal University Technology also launched the Huawei Authorized Information and Network Academy (HAINA) program. HAINA is a nonprofit ICT career certification program which aims to increase employment opportunities for young people by exposing them to more ICT knowledge and skills required in the job market.
The Huawei ICT competition 2018 has been launched in more than 10 sub-Saharan Africa countries, including South Africa, Kenya, and Zambia. So far, more than 20,000 students have registered for the contests.
Winners of the contest in Nigeria will have the opportunity to participate in the regional finals in South Africa and global finals at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen China.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services – we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.
Huawei’s end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions, and services are both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create lasting value for our customers, working to empower people, enrich home life, and inspire innovation in organizations of all shapes and sizes.
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