A team of three Nigerian students got Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited’s Outstanding Performance (Huawei Global/national/sub-Saharan Africa ICT Competition), Nigeria National Award for Best ICT Academy Instructor, and Most Cooperative ICT Academy, last week for emerging 3rd place among the top three winners in the Global Final of the Huawei ICT Competition.
The global final of Huawei ICT competition, a top-level event for students in the field, concluded May 26 at the company’s new headquarters in Southern China’s city of Dongguan, China, where they competed with 49 other teams and a total of 147 students representing 30 countries racing for the global trophy.
Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for the 2019/2020 next edition.
Speaking at the ceremony, Isa Ali Ibrahim-Pantami, director-general of NITDA, commended Huawei Technologies for its commitment in promoting ICT development in Nigeria, saying the initiative aligned well with one of NITDA seven pillars – the capacity building pillar, which is in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Ibrahim-Pantami expressed the need for a renewed partnership, adding that the Agency looked forward to a new relationship and partnership with Huawei that would foster ICT for inclusive sustainable national development in Nigeria.
Ambassador of the People Republic of China to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, observed the growth Nigeria had experienced in the past 20 years since Huawei Technologies came into Nigeria.
“Twenty years ago, there were 27 thousand mobile phone owners in Nigeria. Today, that number soars to 170 million. Twenty years ago, for one-minute talk in Nigeria, it would cost $1, today, that same call costs 2US cents. Twenty years ago, Huawei began knocking the door of Nigeria, today, Huawei grows with Nigeria as a most reliable business partner in Nigeria.”
Permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications, M.F. Istifanus, represented by the director of ICT in the Ministry, Moni Udoh, applauded Huawei for increased partnership with Nigerian universities and colleges in the last 12 months, which had resulted to “more than 55 MoUs signed with partners to be Huawei ICT Academies and giving more than 13,000 students opportunities to participate in the recently concluded Huawei 2018 2019 ICT Competition.
“We appreciate the attention Huawei has paid to this program, by focusing not only on the students but also, building the skills and capacities of our Universities and lecturers. We strongly believe that the skills transferred through this programme will enhance the quality of our educational system and provide economic opportunities to individuals as well as the broader economic development of not only Nigeria but the whole of Africa.”
Tank Li, managing director, Huawei Technologies (Abuja office), Nigeria, said, “This year marks the 20th year of Huawei operating in Nigeria. Within that period, Huawei has made progressive achievements through both collaboration with the public and private sector in Nigeria.
“Huawei through its many CSR programmes have strived to reach many lives in Nigeria, especially the education sector. Some of these programmes also include the Seeds for the future Programme, where we send 10 students to China for two weeks, all expenses covered by Huawei, which we have done for the past two years.
“Huawei will continue to invest in this collaboration with universities, this number is expected to increase greatly within the coming months, and continuously supply excellent candidates to Huawei’s ICT talent eco-system. Huaweis vision in Nigeria is to create an ICT talent Ecosystem that will form the foundation in the digitalisation plan for the nearest future.”
Huawei launched its global ICT competition in 2015, and Nigeria joined in 2018, and in Nigeria, the competition had over 13,000 students from more than 30 universities participating.
Overall, the 2018/19 event attracted more than 1,000 universities in over 50 countries around the world under the slogan Connection, Glory and Future. The total number of students participating globally was 80,000 including 28,000 students from sub-Saharan Africa.
