Huawei invests in Kenyan university to boost ICT training

Huawei Technologies, a Chinese multinational telecommunication equipment and consumer electronics manufacturer, has partnered with Zetech University, a Kenya-based private university, to enhance the institution's faculty of information and communication technology (ICT) and engineering.

The deal will see Huawei provide training equipment including modern routers and switch and management devices worth $52,702 (Ksh 5.3 million) for the training, while Zetech University will ensure students are enrolled and allocated a special laboratory room for the Huawei ICT Academy.

Su Shuqi, training and certification manager for Huawei's enterprise business department, said establishing a knowledge transfer hub is an effort to reward and appreciate the achievements the university has attained. This is in addition to providing the university with the right resources and training facilities to remain as the leading Huawei Academy.

Professor Njenga Munene, the vice-chancellor for Zetech University, lauded the firm for its continual commitment to support education through ICT.

Munene highlighted that the institution's partnerships with Huawei have empowered students to generate innovative solutions and creativity in information technology and enterprises that will ultimately impact the country's economy.

“We value this collaboration that has largely contributed to building students' skills required to address the changing needs of the IT industry. Through this endorsement, we are set to achieve great things together,” Munene said.

The first memorandum of understanding between the two partners was signed in May 2018, when the university became a Huawei Authorized Information Network Academy, or HAINA.

Since then, the partnership has seen the university receive the Best Huawei ICT Training Academy 2018 award during the Huawei ICT Competition 2018-2019 Southern Africa Academy held last November.

First launched in 2017, the HAINA program aims to transform universities into institutions that produce a skilled workforce required by employers and one that will drive continued transformation of the economy through technology.

The academy thrives on the heightened interest of students and faculty in Huawei certified ICT associate courses, following the successfully Huawei ICT Competition that saw 40 universities in the country participate.

In the contest, Kennedy Muthaura, an IT undergraduate student at Zetech, beat over 3,900 Kenyan students to clinch the top prize, while the university's ICT trainer Samuel Kinuthia was awarded Best Lecturer.

Muthaura will travel to South Africa on Feb 22, 2019, accompanied by the trainer, to participate in the African edition of the competition as well as participate in the Huawei ICT Talent Ecosystem Development Steering Committee for the Sub-Saharan Africa Conference.

As the partnership progresses, the firms are set to collaborate on an impactful community initiative geared toward enhancing IT learning in secondary schools in Kenya through training of computer education teachers, in line with the country's new education system.