Huawei strengthens partnership with Ethiopian university to enhance ICT development

ADDIS ABABA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Addis Ababa University (AAU) and Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications company, on Friday signed a cooperation agreement that will boost Ethiopian students' access to industry experience on information and communication technologies (ICT).

As part of the signed Memorandum of Understanding, Huawei Ethiopia and the AAU will increase collaboration in talent and skill cultivation in the ICT sector. It will also enable AAU students to intern at Huawei Ethiopia and gain more practical ICT experience.

Bikila Teklu, chief executive director of Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, said during the signing ceremony that the partnership agreement is expected to contribute to AAU's recent endeavor.

He said strategic partnerships and collaborations with key industry stakeholders, such as Huawei, is one of the key focus areas of the AAU as part of its new strategic plan.

"Such partnerships are crucial for providing industry exposure and capacity building for our faculty and students and eventually to produce graduates that are fit for the labor market needs," Teklu said.

Calling on students to effectively exploit the opportunity provided by Huawei to further their knowledge and skills on key information and communication technologies, Teklu emphasized that the success of such practical hands-on trainings will positively contribute to the development of the overall telecom sector in Ethiopia.

The Addis Ababa Institute of Technology hosts the Huawei Academy, which was established with the support of Huawei Ethiopia with state-of-the-art facilities.

According to Teklu, the Huawei Academy hosted at the institute has so far trained hundreds of technicians, who are now engaged in various telecom projects across the East African country. He said many other AAU graduates have also benefited from training and career opportunities offered by Huawei.

"We dearly value our partnership with Huawei, a global powerhouse in the telecom and ICT sector, and our vision is to further strengthen our partnership by building on the existing platform," Teklu said.

Zerihun Alemayehu, an official from the Ethiopian Ministry of Labor and Skills, on his part commended Huawei's commitment in nurturing young Ethiopian talents in the telecom and ICT sector.

"There is a high demand for digitization, both in the private and public sectors. To achieve this, developing trained and qualified manpower is of great importance. This experience is exemplary and needs to be strengthened and scaled up to all sectors and training institutions," he said.

Liu Jifan, chief executive officer of Huawei Ethiopia, on his part expressed the company's keen commitment to further strengthening its collaboration with the AAU in particular and Ethiopia's digitization ambitions in general.

"Huawei, as a leading global provider of ICT infrastructure and devices, is proud to partner with the AAU, a renowned institution of higher learning, to bring you the exceptional opportunity today," he said.

Liu further urged students attending the event to serve as a driving force in the East African country's digitization ambitions by harnessing the opportunities presented in recent technological advancements.

The Ethiopian government is currently implementing a national digitization strategy, dubbed "Digital Ethiopia 2025," which envisages significantly augmenting all forms of digital services in the country by 2025.

Liu underscored that Huawei Ethiopia will "spear no effort" in contributing to the success of Ethiopia's digitalization drive.