Por: Huawei
When, in the middle of this month, I saw the president of HUAWEI for Sub-Saharan Africa, Chen Lei and the CEO of Huawei Angola, Chu Xiaoxin, being received by the President of the Republic, I could not help but admire the persistence that the high-flying international giant Information and communication technology has had to create an institutional opinion favorable to something that is dear not only to this company, but also to our country: the digitalization of society and the economy.
I came into contact with Huawei as soon as I took on the role of Secretary of State for Social Communication. He then knew very little about it, other than that it made good cell phones that made Western rivals jealous.
In the conversations we had within the framework of the cooperation I had with our ministry, a fluent conversation because we communicated in English, I began to see the size of the company. But, more importantly, I began to understand that their commercial objectives fit perfectly with our strategic objectives of moving as quickly as possible towards the digitalization of our country, promoting universal and cheap access to the internet, making us part of the “village global” in which everyone lives just a click away (according to Marshall McLuhan’s prophecy) and taking the leap towards the quality of production processes through 3G, 4G and 5G technologies.
In the partnership with Huawei, which was willing to invest not only in infrastructure, but also in the training of Angolans, I glimpsed the contours of a strategic agreement in which everyone wins. I myself have become an advocate of this journey towards the digitalization of our country. And I was really impressed by the determination of Huawei executives to go a long way to take this message of mutual benefits to the President of the Republic.
After finishing my duties, I followed with interest the advocacy process they initiated in this direction. They met with the new minister of MINTTICS, to whom they showed the impressive headquarters they are building in Luanda; then, with the Vice-President, with the First Lady and finally with the President of the Republic himself. The reason for the success of this journey, which culminated in the office of the holder of the Executive Branch, was the impression that had also been made on me with the proposal for a digital economy based on the development of telecommunications infrastructures and the training of Angolan talents. This sounds like music to the ears of government officials, especially when the company presents the conditions to, from next year, train two thousand Angolans annually in a gigantic training center costing around 60 million dollars. When this is combined with Huawei’s unquestionable experience in the sector, we then have the icing on the cake.
Huawei has already set up fully automated airports where everything is done by machines: check-in, passenger transport at the apron, and this without any human intervention. There are already farms where everything is operated by agricultural machines controlled by people sitting in offices kilometers away. It created technology, all using 5G, that detects those who cut down trees in forests without authorization or those who hunt animals in prohibited parks. This technology also allows remote-controlled drones to check for faults in high voltage cables or water pipes in the middle of the bush. Ultimately, with a partner of this caliber it becomes possible to dream of a modern country, a digital Angola.
Huawei told the President that it wants to contribute to the digital transformation of Angola. It is true that it is your business objective. But it is also one of our country’s strategic objectives.
There are conditions here for a “win-win” process, that is, where everyone wins. Even more so for us Angolans, who in numerical terms are few enough to effectively occupy our entire country, and we urgently need to produce what we need to eat, to supply industries and start making Angola a good country to live in.