Technology giant Huawei has announced a five-year investment initiative, totalling US$430 million, for the 28 African countries north of the equator.
The initiative supports a strategy, unveiled by Terry HE, President of Huawei Northern Africa at the eighth edition of the Shanghai-based Huawei Connect event in late September, to guide Africa towards a "smart and connected future".
This strategy, entitled Accelerate Intelligence for New Africa, is described as a comprehensive blueprint for Africa's digital and technological future. It is built around the integration of smart technologies, particularly artifical intellgence (AI), into vital sectors that shape and influence the daily lives of Africans, including health, education, transportation, finance, agriculture, and mining.
The associated five-year investment initiative includes US$200 million to establish the region's first public cloud centre, offering over 200 cloud services, and an additional US$200 million to support 200 local software partners and empower 1,300 channel partners.
In term of talent development, Huawei says it will invest US$30 million to train 10,000 local developers and educate 100,000 digital professionals, creating a skilled workforce to drive intelligent transformation in the region.
Terry HE said: “To expedite intelligent transformation in Northern Africa, Huawei will intensify its investments in technologies, ecosystems, and talent.” He also stressed the critical importance of close collaboration among governments, businesses, educational institutions, and communities to realise these ambitions.
