by GIFT NDOLWANE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – UNIVERSITIES from Ghana and South Africa have emerged winners of an inaugural competition to unearth and nurture the finest information and communication technology (ICT) talent in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Huawei ICT Skill Competition garnered over 1 000 participating students from eight universities in various countries across the region, including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
An award ceremony was held in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Excellent Tutor Awards were also presented to four teachers, together with four universities which were awarded with Best University prizes.
Michael Meng, Services Director of Huawei Enterprise Business Group for Southern Africa, said building a pool of high quality ICT talent was a critical success factor for governments aiming to transition to knowledge-based economies.
He said the ICT Skill Competition was ppart of the company’s commitment to support governments in the region as they worked towards achieving their national vision goals.
Meng said the platform demonstrated that the young talent in Sub-Saharan Africa had the potential to mature into world-class experts.
“Today, we re-dedicate ourselves to working even more closely with students across the region to better equip the next generation of technology leaders,” them executive said.
The competition was introduced to the region in 2017 as a critical initiative for enhancing the quality of future African ICT professionals, a key pillar in national agendas of building knowledge-based economies.
The winners of the competition received certificates, trophies, and prizes.
Additionally, six of them will have an opportunity to participate in the global finals which hold later in the company’s headquarters in China.
Huawei’s certification system has become talent development and rating standards recognised in the ICT industry.
In South Africa, Huawei is collaborating with the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Johannesburg (UJ) as well as University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).
Huawei aims to increase collaborations with Huawei Authorised Information and Network Academies (HAINA).
– CAJ News
