WINDHOEK, Nov. 4  -- China's telecommunication giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. officially kicked off a Telecom Seed Program for Namibian Information and Telecommunication (ICT) personnel here on Tuesday.

The program, which will see 20 Namibian ICT personnel receiving a two-week training session at Huawei's head office in Shenzhen, China, is the first-ever training course designed for Namibians.

The 20 trainees from the southwestern African country were chosen by different ministries of the Namibian government. Their focus of study in China will include ICT, network management and cyber security.

According to Yin Xianyu, Managing Director of Huawei Namibia, Huawei entered Namibian market in 2005, and is now serving two million Namibians with voice communication, high-speed internet and digital television programs.

Expressing appreciation for Huawei's sponsorship for the training course, Stanley Simataa, Deputy Minister of Namibia's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, admitted during the function at the Chinese Embassy that Namibia is facing an "acute shortage" of ICT professionals. He then encouraged the 20 trainees to make the best use of this opportunity and contribute to the ICT development of the country.

Huawei made the commitment of training Namibian ICT personnel in April when Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob visited its headquarters in China. The company's products and solutions have been deployed in over 170 countries worldwide.