50,000 Nigerians benefit from Huawei ICT talent seeds initiatives

 

No fewer than 50,000 Nigerians have benefited from the Huawei Cultivates ICT talent seeds in Nigeria.

The Chinese firm, which was founded in 1987, as a global provider of ICT infrastructure, also planned a 30,000 people project for next three years.

This is as the country is currently faced with the challenge of retaining ICT professionals as over 2,000 left the country in 2022 alone and the “japa” syndrome is still continuing.

But, the Chinese firm has been actively engaged in nurturing ICT talent in Nigeria, cooperating with government, industries and academies and initiating various programmes like the ICT for Change program, which offered E-Government, Cyber Security, 5G, Cloud Service, Big Data and AI training to over 3,000 Federal Government civil servants.

According to a report by the Chinese Embassy, “More than 50,000 individuals in Nigeria have benefited from Huawei’s multiple ICT talent initiatives. These programmes have played a vital role in building the country’s digital capabilities and empowering the workforce with the skills needed for the evolving digital landscape.”

“Huawei’s commitment to talent development aligns with Nigeria’s aspirations to build a robust digital economy and harness the potential of technology for sustainable growth.”

“Through the Three-Year Plan, Thirty Thousand People” project, Huawei plans to further cultivate more ICT talents to address the local shortage of ICT skills and enrich the talent pool. With Huawei’s continued commitment to nurturing talent and advancing technology in Nigeria, the future looks promising for the country’s digital landscape, and the nation’s talents are poised to make even greater strides in the field of ICT.”

The report also listed other initiatives to include Engineering Training program to upskill ICT workforce to better innovate for development of ICT engineers in Nigeria, which is devoted in cultivating Nigerian ICT talents with the total audiences hitting 13,399.

“Other initiatives like the ICT Academy, Seeds for the Future, ICT Job Fair and ICT Competition are programmes for the youths by encouraging and empowering the youths to build a positive talent eco-system.

“Huawei ICT Academy trained 162 Nigerian academics and over 37,000 students. Huawei Seeds for the Future sponsors 10 Nigerian students to travel to China for technology and cultural exchange every year.

“Huawei Job Fair helps over 8,000 students and job seekers get a chance for job interview, amongst over 500 got job or internship offer from Huawei and Huawei Partners,” it stated.

The report also revealed that Huawei, in August 2023, signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the University of Port Harcourt.

The essence of the MoUs, the report stated, was to support the country’s ICT talent ecosystem

There is also the Huawei ICT Competition, which commenced in 2015. The competition has become a global platform for nurturing talent in the field of information and communication technology.

Over the years, the ICT competition has made a significant impact in Nigeria, with the country’s students consistently demonstrating their abilities.

Since its introduction in 2018, Nigeria has participated in four sessions of the competition, achieving notable success.

The country secured the grand prize in both the network track and cloud track in the 2019/2020 edition, followed by another grand prize in the network track in the 2021/2022 edition.

In 2023, the Nigeria Innovation Team’s historic victory in the Innovation Track further solidifies the country’s reputation as a hotbed of technological talent.