By our correspondent
Huawei signs MoU with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy in line with the Ministry’s National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for the development and promotion of Digital Economy and growth in Nigeria.
The MoU aims at promoting the partnership between the Ministry of Communication and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. To establish two core ICT projects in Nigeria, the Huawei ICT Academy Project and the Huawei ICT Talent Cultivation Project.
This partnership will enable the development of not less than 300 ICT Academies in top universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education in Nigeria. Not less than 10,000 university students from reputable universities on the recommendation of the Ministry will be trained each year with a total of 30,000 students in 3 years. This would include trainings, competition and other activities incidental to the operation of the ICT Academy.
The establishment of this projects is a roadmap for the future which will help enhance the ICT ecosystem and improve the ICT technical infrastructure so as to attain sound digital economy in Nigeria. Most importantly, Huawei will provide its latest technology and help curb the rate of unemployment In Nigeria by providing jobs, experience opportunities and ICT certifications to students each year so as to increase their job market competitiveness.
In order to ensure the smooth running of the project a joint working team would be set up for the purpose of organizing, preparing and executing the project.
The Managing Director of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, Mr. Trevor Liu, thanked the Federal Government of Nigeria and The Honorable Minister, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), for giving Huawei the enabling environment to operate and touch many lives in Nigeria. This has been done through many initiatives to which the Honorable Minister has been a key driver. The Honorable Minister, a key stakeholder, has through his Office, designed and deployed many notable Initiatives in Enhancing the National Digital transformation in Nigeria, such as the very Popular ICT Park, Digital Nigeria, and E-government Initiatives. He has shown over and over again that his heart is in changing the narrative on the ICT ecosystem in Nigeria, to which we shall applaud for his efforts.
“Our vision and mission in Huawei have been to bring digital to every person, home, and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. Huawei has pushed this vision through many channels. One of which is our four Major ICT Talent cultivation initiatives, The Seeds for the Future Program, Huawei ICT Academy, Huawei ICT Competition, and The Job Fair. This is because we strongly believe that Digital Transformation is about Talents, and not all about Technology”
He appreciated the Minister for “identifying and seeing the need for Talent cultivation and development, and for also seeing Huawei Technologies as a Partner to work with in actualizing this goal.”
The Honorable Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) speaking at the event commended the effort of Huawei particularly in its CSR programs since it is a soft law encouraged globally. The Minister commended the effort of the Huawei Managing Director, Trevor Lie for continuous partnership with the Ministry. “The Nigerian government is thankful to Huawei looking at how the country has benefited in the CSR programs’ He added that the President of Nigeria, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari GCSF appreciated the work of Huawei and has encouraged Huawei to do more on the Nigerian soil since Nigeria is the largest and biggest market in Africa. He requested that ‘Huawei establish a global training center in NIGERIA to train Nigerians and other African Countries on ICT”.
The Minister also highlighted that the Administration has provided an enabling environment for International companies to invest and do business in Nigeria. The administration has come up with “36 initiatives to enable the ease of doing business in Nigeria “The administration signed an executive order to address the challenges faced by International companies to provide accountability, transparency, e-govt, tax holiday, visa on arrival etc. which has moved Nigeria higher in the world ranking of ease of doing business.
He stated that the regulations for this administration is developmental because it is attached to regulation in order to show that we promote development not to restrict it or jeopardize the ease of doing business. The administration is passionate about the private sector. The normal aggregate demand of Nigeria in 2021 is less than 9% while the private sector has 91). The private sector controls the economy which is the global best practice. One of the responsibilities of government is providing an enabling environment which this current administration is bent on achieving. This is important for the economy, job creation, stability and many more. “We will prioritize the private sector and give it the support it needs”. He further stated that this administration has prioritize skills especially in the digital economy sector, providing skills, providing potential job providers, job employers. The collaboration between Huawei is between the private sector, academia and government in order to have an excellent breeding in which those who practice will grasp what government policies are all about and the industry requirement.
He hopes that after the implantation of the MoU more than 100,000 Nigerians would benefit from the initiative beyond the agreement. The skills gained by the student will enable them become entrepreneurs in the nearest future.
The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Cui Jianchun, expressed delight to witness the initiative of training 30,000 students within 3 years trained by the leading ICT provider Huawei with the collaboration of Huawei.
“I salute the Minister’s support in making Nigeria an outstanding company in ICT because digital economy develops a country and develops young talents. He applauded Huawei’s courage in providing cutting-edge technology and contribution to move the economy and give young people skills in Nigeria. He further saluted the universities for making an excellent choice in working with Huawei to make things different.
“The Chinese embassy would continue to support the corporation to make a difference”, he said. “We would sustain this initiative and ensure the University, Minister and Students testify to the initiative”.
Mr. Cui Jianchun highlighted nine programs of Africa-China Cooperation for the next three years which will further strengthen Africa-China practical cooperation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win result, this includes the medical and health program, poverty reduction and agricultural development program, trade promotion program, investment promotion program, digital innovation program, green development program capacity building program, cultural and people-to-people exchange program and lastly the peace and security program. “The Digital Innovation Program is being implemented today”. “I want to assure you that we are we are working with the relevant authorities in Nigeria, for example the Ministry of Agriculture” in order to provide food for people “we are doing the traditional herbs, this is a small project but it is very important”. He reiterated that the kick-off ceremony is the biggest one in terms of implementing the 9 programs between China and Africa. Being the 14 Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, he has implemented some strategies which are political support economic cooperation, military insecurity collaboration, International affairs and People Communication. Without this strategy, China cannot implement anything noteworthy in Nigeria.
He further projected a symphony between China and Nigerian government which will promote the digital economy harmony.
Professor Muhammad Ahmad Abdulazeez, Vice Chancellor, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi State, in his goodwill message applauded Huawei for enhancing the skills of students in ICT” He stated that he would ensure that more students pass through the Huawei training and get provided with certifications. He further thanked the Minister for his unrelenting support in providing ICT innovations for Nigerians particularly supporting educational skills for ICT for students.
Brig. Gen. SS Ibrahim, The Registrar Nigerian Army University in his speech at the event stated that “the corporation between Huawei and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy is good for the country in human capacity development in the area of ICT” The partnership is a sure foundation and strategy for the development of ICT and human capacity. This collaboration means that “ICT in Nigeria is going towards the right direction, more so, the minister has made noteworthy changes and contributions to the development of ICT which has benefited the Nigerian youth. The Nigerian Army University established in 2018 have decided to follow suit in ICT and partner with telecoms giant Huawei in order to fortify the students with the latest technology. “I want to acknowledge and appreciate the Minister for being productive in developing the ICT sector and the management of Huawei for taking the bold step in the Nigerian ICT Sector”.
Mr. Kenneth Igwe, the Huawei ICT Talent Manger, stated that globally Huawei is working with academia to bridge the ICT knowledge & skills gap. The students would be trained according to the industry standard. In doing this Huawei has established not for profit educational program provided training and learning solutions to meet ICT industry requirements thereby building an ICT ecosystem. From the year 2017 to 2021, Huawei has established ICT Academies in 123 university across Nigeria. Huawei provides the ICT Vertical Certification, the Platform & Service Certification and ICT Infrastructure Certification for different levels of the training.
The objective of this corporation is to give Nigerian students opportunity to achieve dual awards when they leave school. (Academic and Industry qualifications), cultivate the talents needed to build and sustain the Digital Transformation vision of the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of the Honorable Minister, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), the students will form part of the talent eco-system where Huawei, Government of Nigeria and Industry can look into and pick from for the purpose of employment, provide all trainees with multiple part ways to financial freedom and Digital inclusion, in line with the Honorable Ministers passion for the Nigeria youth, give trainees the opportunity to meet with industry players through the job fair and get relevant hands on working experience.
