The Chinese multinational, Huawei, intends to improve the skills of more than 600 thousand Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) professionals by 2023.
This is a series of campaigns aimed at the talent ecosystem in sub-Saharan Africa, such as “Seeds for the Future” and “ICT Competition”, whose objective is to fill the talent gap in this area, advancing the digital transformation of industries .
According to the document that NA had access to this Monday, a total of 66 Angolan university students, from the engineering areas of the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Namibe and Malanje, finished last week the training program in advanced technologies and cultural immersion “Seeds for the Future”, implemented by Huawei in partnership with UNITEL.
In view of the restrictions imposed by the WHO due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the training given by global experts from Huawei, which began on the 19th, was carried out online for five days, ending on the 23rd. During this period, the selected students learned about innovative solutions for 5G fixed and mobile broadband networks, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and learned more about the concept of smart cities.
During virtual visits, students had contact with the working environment of a “giant” company in the area of information and communication technologies such as Huawei. They interacted with professionals at the multinational’s headquarters, visited the research and development laboratories, watched demonstrations of innovative technological solutions and learned up close what skills are needed to be successful in the ICT area, in a multicultural, innovative and creative environment.
The program selected the best students from across the country under 30 years of age, enrolled from the third year onwards in universities or higher institutes accredited by the Government of Angola in the following areas of study: Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, Engineering Telecommunications, Electromechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Network Engineering, Management Informatics, Mechatronic Engineering and Electronic Engineering.
Annually, the “Seeds for the Future” program should promote the excellence of the best students at Angolan universities.
ICT Competition 2019 Experience
On the other hand, Huawei has annually offered the best engineering students from several countries the possibility of participating in the global information and communication technology competition, the ICT Competition, where in 2019, four Angolan students represented the country in the regional qualifiers. in Johannesburg, South Africa, they managed to include Angola in the list of four countries that represented the sub-Saharan African region in the grand final competition that took place in Shenzen, China.
Ucall Platforms technician, José Simão, was one of the participants and talks about his experience: “When we arrived in South Africa, we were very welcomed by the Huawei staff. The company’s representatives are very polite, this was noticed both in South Africa and in China. I learned many concepts in terms of computer networks, which have been useful in my professional life as a platform technician”.
For his part, José Monteiro, who was the team’s instructor and also got a job at Velonet after going to this competition, said that, “Our participation in China was very good, we had the opportunity to interact with people from different nations , different cultures, it was very interesting.”
In the same sense, the ITA coach, Joaquim da Conceição, testifies that he had “many experiences” and made “many friendships that last to this day, especially with his Mozambican brothers”.
“I improved my technical skills, which helped a lot to identify several problems I have had with clients on a day-to-day basis”, he concluded.
For Luis Almeida, ICT national champion in 2019, the interaction with technicians from other corners of the continent was the highlight. “It was really ‘cool’. I remember well that, when we were at the final ceremony gala in South Africa, one of our colleagues from Botswana told us “If you won, then I won too”. It was great to hear that from someone from another country.” Participation in ICT gave the young man his first job opportunity, as a network technician at BFA. “It’s very rewarding”, he rejoices.
The challenges of the ICT Competition were those that most impacted another of the participants, Neves Cutambo.
The BFA network technician adds that “the experience of preparing for a certification test, the contact with colleagues, in addition to the links that are established whenever a person is submitted to a competition of this kind, was very good”. “The ICT Competition provided me with job opportunities as an instructor at the ITEL academy, at CEFITEL and then at BFA, upon recommendation from Huawei,” he confided.
Finally, the person responsible for Huawei’s Talent Ecosystem in Angola, Luís Erivaldo, recalls that the experience was as exciting as it was difficult. “Exciting, because it was my first time participating in the competition; It’s difficult, because we had to do basic preparation, from scratch, with all the students,” he explains.
The individual perception of each participant is unique, but everyone agrees that this experience enabled them to develop skills, gain visibility, expand their network of contacts and grow professionally. Today, these young people have entered the job market, which has allowed them to apply their knowledge, progress in their careers and, at the same time, improve the quality of life of their families.
Despite the current situation around the world, these Huawei programs in the sub-Saharan African region will not stop. The objective is to train 600,000 technicians by 2023. With this, the multinational takes another step towards the digital transformation of all productive sectors in the country, bringing digital to every person, home and organization, towards a fully connected and intelligent world .
Founded in 1987, Huawei is present in more than 170 countries and has a workforce of 194,000 employees, around 50% of which are in the R&D sectors.
Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications equipment and the second largest smartphone manufacturer.
The company is positioned 49th in the Fortune Global 500 index.
