A total of 15 universities across Nigeria with over 10,000 students will participate in an ICT competition organised by Chinese tech giant Huawei that will be officially launched today.
In a statement, Huawei said the aim of the competition in Nigeria is to cultivate local ICT talents, promote a greater understanding of ICT, increase interest and develop a healthy ecosystem for the sustainable growth of the sector.
The selected universities include University of Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello University, Lead City University, America University of Nigeria and Federal University Technology.
The contest will feature learning of various subjects including Cloud Computing, artificial intelligence, mobile networks and big data.
At the “Nigeria ICT Talents Development Summit and Huawei ICT Competition Launch Ceremony” which will be held on Oct. 26th, at the Hilton Convention Center in Abuja, select universities will also sign MOU with Huawei to launch Huawei Authorized Information and Network Academy (HAINA) program in these universities. HAINA is a nonprofit ICT career certification program which aims to increase employment opportunities for young people by exposing them to more ICT knowledge and skills required in the job market.
Huawei has now extended its HAINA program to more than 150 leading universities worldwide, and this will be the first time for Huawei to bring the program to Nigeria.
Tank Li, Managing Director of Huawei Enterprise Nigeria, said these programs are in line with Huawei’s sustainability strategy in bridging digital divide, promoting skill transfer and developing a win-win situation with local community.
“As an international ICT innovator, we are committed to working with our academic and industrial partners in Nigeria to create more opportunities for individuals, and businesses in the country. Through programs like ICT competition and HAINA, Huawei will continuously contribute to local ICT talents cultivation and practitioners upskilling, to lay a solid foundation for a healthier sectorial growth, fulfillment of government’s digitization strategies and stronger national ICT competitiveness.” he said.
With its slogan of “Connection，Glory，Future”, Huawei ICT competition has been launched in more than 10 sub-Saharan Africa countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Zambia. So far, more than 20,000 students have signed up to participate. Winners of the contest in Nigeria will have opportunity to participate in the regional finals in South Africa and global finals at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen China.