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Remember Deketeke Herald Reporter
TELECOMS giant, Huawei’s sub-Saharan Africa region, is set to train an additional 100 000 people in high-end information and communication technologies over the next three years to equip them with digital skills by 2025.
This comes after findings that there has been a skills gap in the ICT industry, giving rise to the need to equip talented people south of the Sahara with digital skills.
It is estimated that over 230 million jobs will require digital skills by 2030.
The programme, co-sponsored by Huawei and the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), is an official partner programme of the Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2024.
Huawei and ATU have just gathered over 200 guests for the LEAP 2024 summit, a meeting on leadership, employability, advancement and possibility.
Among them, were high ranking ministers, ambassadors and other government officials from many African nations in the Sub-Saharan region.
Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Dr Tatenda Mavetera provided the local and pan-African perspective on digital talent cultivation.
“Beyond the impressive ICT talent achievements on display, this summit is a testament to the power of collaboration.
“It is through partnerships between governments, industries, leaders, academia and civil society that we are truly able to unlock the full potential of ICT for the benefit of humanity,” she said.
Minister Counsellor He Hongyan, from the Department of African Affairs in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasised the importance of China-African talent cooperation as outlined in the China-Africa Cooperation 2035.
“LEAP is helping Africa build a pool of digital talent, boost its digital economy, bridge the digital divide and boost and drive inclusive development,” she said.
Huawei’s senior vice president, Public Affairs and Communications, Jeff Wang, outlined the company’s approach to inclusive, systematic and future-oriented talent development.
“Huawei launched the LEAP Digital Talent Development Programme in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2022. After more than two years of development, we are glad to see that so many people have benefited from it.”
Secretary-General of the African Telecommunications Union Mr John Omo reiterated a human-first approach to technology.
“Digital skills development and access to ICT is not about ICT, it is about people. It is about empowering people to participate sufficiently in the digital economy.”
Mr Omo encouraged collective participation in the effort to give the youth not just a future, but also a present in which they could thrive.
United Nations Resident Co-ordinator in China, Siddharth Chatterjee, joined the programme remotely via video link to highlight the importance of a multilateral approach to addressing the digital skills gap and upskilling of workers.
“We hope these efforts can help people everywhere better harness digital technologies, narrow the skills gap and create a sustained prosperity along with sustainable development, all of which are essential to achieving the sustainable development goals.”
Online Reporter