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Spotlight: AU commends China for its support to Africa's ICT capacity building

Xinhua, June 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

The African Union (AU) has commended China for the overall development support China provides to Africa in general, and to capacity building of the continent in information and communication technology (ICT) sector in particular.

Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission, has called for more cooperation with China on ICT development in Africa.

Mwencha made the remarks on Monday during an event organized in connection with the Huawei "Seeds for the Future" program at the headquarters of the pan-African bloc in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

Huawei and AU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in January 2015 for cooperation between the two sides in the area of ICT and capacity building for the African continent.

In the implementation of the MoU, under its initiative dubbed "Seeds for the Future" Huawei has been organizing training and experience sharing visits for African experts in China.

In line with the Huawei "Seeds for the Future" program, the first batch of 20 African experts have attended the training in December 2015 in China, which was accompanied by a site visit aimed to familiarize the African experts with the latest information and communications technologies at Huawei China.

In the latest move, the 2nd Batch "Seeds for the Future", which includes 10 ICT experts from AU, is going to China on June 10 for two-week training and visit sessions in Shenzhen and Beijing.

Hailing the ongoing collaboration between China and Africa in different areas including the ICT infrastructure, Mwencha has called for more cooperation towards capacity development of Africa in the ICT sector.

He stated that the two sides have been cooperating in development programs under the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

"We do have very strong cooperation between Africa and China under FOCAC. We have signed agreement to pursue certain programs; one of them has got to do with infrastructure which we are talking about today, on industrialization, but also fighting poverty," he noted.

Speaking on the occasion, Cheng Ning, Counselor of Cooperation and Exchange at the Chinese Mission to AU, said China would continue its cooperation with the AU Commission and its member states towards realizing common dreams of development and prosperity.

"You have this dream of Africa; you also have this bright future; and in China, we have also Chinese dream. Hand in hand between Chinese dream and African dream, we will make our bright futures," he said.

He stated that China would further strengthen its cooperation with Africa in capacity building by providing more and more training opportunities to experts on the continent.

Elham Ibrahim, AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, has commended China in her part and said, "I want to thank the government of China and Huawei for implementing our MoU. It is one of the most important elements of our MoU to build the capacity; and the ICT area is very important area."

Huawei, a leading global ICT solutions provider, has been implementing its "Seeds for the Future" program in different parts of the world, in which Huawei leverages its world-leading ICT technologies to cultivate ICT professionals and thus drive knowledge transformation for the development of local ICT industry.

Speaking during the event at AU today, Stone Shi, CEO Huawei Technology Ethiopia, stated that people are now living in a super connected world and human lives are getting smarter and smarter due to advancements in the ICT industry.

The CEO expressed Huawei's readiness and willingness to partner with Africans to share experiences and best practices in the industry.

With years of experience with Africa ICT industry coupled with the Company's extensive industrial global network, "Huawei is well positioned to share the best practice, and the latest ICT solutions; we are ready and willing to share our experience."

According to the CEO, participants of the training will stay in Shenzhen and work with the Huawei team in the Chinese Headquarters, learning about Huawei's international culture, strategy and values, and receive technical training from some of the finest professionals in the industry.

They will be Huawei's guests in Beijing for an immersive introduction to Chinese language and culture. Endit