It has been pointed out time and again, that lack of skilled IT professionals are a main barrier to the both the industry’s growth, and South Africa’s economic development.

In a bid to address the skills shortage, however, Huawei has announced yet another partnership, this time with the United Nations agency for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) and African Universities, launching an ICT Talent Ecosystem Program for Sub-Sahara Africa at AfricaCom 2018.

The company elaborated that the programme is intended to “cultivate local ICT talent and develop a sustainable ICT ecosystem.”

More specifically, as part of the programme, Huawei carries out several ICT certification programs including the Huawei ICT Academy and Huawei Authorised Learning Partner (“HALP”) for university students and industry practitioners. These will culimate in industry recognised certification HCNA, HCNP, HCIE, across extensive ICT technologies, such as routing & switching, storage, cloud computing and security.

In addition, Huawei elaborated that it will host a number of events, including an ICT Competition and Career Expos for tertiary students, to promote a greater understanding of and interest in ICT related job opportunities.

“We are launching this platform to demonstrate that the young talent in Sub-Sahara Africa have the potential to mature into world-class experts,” Michael Meng, Services Director of the Huawei Enterprise Business Group for Southern Africa Region.

He vowed that the company has re-dedicated itself to “working even more closely” with partners across the continent to better equip the next generation of technology leaders. “By enhancing industry-academic cooperation, we, as an international ICT Company, hope to make our contribution to achieving of the continent’s development goals,” he continued.  

The announcement comes on the back of another partnership that was revealed, between MTN and Huawei, aimed at helping farmers better manage their livestock and curb poaching.