China鈥檚rapidincreaseinthenumberofInternetusersisattributednotonlytoitsbigmarket,butalsotoitsgoodpolicies,includingcoordinationbetweenthemarketandthegovernment.
YuXiaohui,ChiefEngineerofChinaAcademyofInformationandCommunicationsTechnology
MasegoDibetle,aninformationandcommunicationstechnology(ICT)studentatTshwaneUniversityofTechnologyinSouthAfrica,looksutterlydelighted.Overthelasttwoweeks,the20-year-oldhasmetwithworldleadingexpertsinherfieldofstudyandvisitedstate-of-the-artlaboratoriesduringherfirsttriptoChina.
Sodelighted,infact,sheisevenconsideringapplyingtojoinHuawei,theChineseglobalinformationandcommunicationsgiantwhichsponsoredandorganizedherstudytrip,onceshegraduates.
InNovember2016,DibetleandnineotherSouthAfricanuniversitystudentswithICTeducationbackgroundcametoChinatoattendatwo-weektraininginBeijingandShenzheninsouthChina鈥檚GuangdongProvincewhereHuaweiisheadquartered.Duringthetraining,theyhadthechancetomarvelatcuttingedgeICTtechnologiessuchas5G,LTEandcloudcomputing,aswellasreceiveprofessionaltrainingfromHuaweiexperts.
SuchtrainingwasmadepossiblebyHuawei鈥檚鈥淪eedsfortheFuture,鈥漚projectaimedathelpingAfricagroomICTprofessionals,promoteskillstransferanddevelopitsICTindustry.ThistripmaybeonlyasmallstepinthedirectionofclosingAfrica鈥檚gapininformationtechnology,butforDibetle,ithasbeenalife-changingexperience.
ICTprofessionals
AsoneofChina鈥檚leadingcompaniesinthecyberindustry,HuaweihasbeenveryactiveinworkingtowardaddressingAfrica鈥檚digitaldividewiththerestoftheworld.The鈥淪eedsfortheFuture鈥漰roject,launchedin2015incountriessuchasKenya,Namibia,Botswana,Nigeria,ZimbabweandGhana,isamajorpartofthecompany鈥檚effortsinthisarea.
鈥淲einvitedAfricanstudentstoHuaweitopracticeandexperienceICTtechnologies.IamconvincedtheywillbecomethefutureleadersandexpertsintheICTfieldinAfrica,鈥漵aidDingShaohua,SeniorVicePresidentatHuawei.
DingsaidthecompanyhassetupseventrainingcentersinAfricaoverthelast20years,whichhavetrainedatotalof30,000ICTpersonnelinAfrica.
Notcontentwiththisfeat,Huaweiisnowexpandingitsefforts.InJuly2016,Huawei鈥檚firstInnovationandExperienceCenterwasofficiallyopenedinJohannesburg,SouthAfrica.Attheinauguration,thecompanysignedacooperationagreementwithSouthAfrica鈥檚DepartmentofTelecommunicationsandPostalServices,andcommitteditselftotraining1,000SouthAfricanICTpersonnelinthenextfiveyears.
ZTEisanothercompanyengagedinraisingthelevelofICTeducationinAfrica.AttheChina-AfricaInternetCooperationForumoftheThirdSessionoftheWorldInternetConference,heldonNovember17,2016inWuzhen,ZhejiangProvince,HuXuemei,VicePresidentandChiefTechnologyOfficeroftheMiddleEastandAfricaRegionatZTE,saidhiscompanyhadenteredintoapartnershipwithEquatorialGuineaandestablishedastudioclassroomtotrainlocalICTpersonnel.
WithChinesecommunicationequipmentcompaniesinvestingsignificanteffortsincultivatinglocalprofessionalsinAfrica,significanthurdlesremain.ThelackofabetternetworkinfrastructureinparticularpreventsICTprofessionalsfromfullyplayingtheirfunctionintheindustry.
鈥淒igitalprofessionalsandskillsareamongthemostimportantfoundationstoaddressthedigitaldivide,andweneedtobemoreproactiveintermsofhumanresourcesdevelopmentandnetworking,鈥漵aidWangXiujun,ViceMinisteroftheCyberspaceAdministrationofChina,attheChina-AfricaInternetCooperationForum.
Thewaytowealth
Asthecontinentisenteringtheinformationage,thenetworkinfrastructureispoisedtoplayaroleofnolessimportancethanthetraditionaltransportationandelectricityinfrastructure.Statisticsshowthata20percentincreaseinnewICTinvestmentcorrespondstoa1-percentgrowthofacountry鈥檚GDP.Inviewofthis,China-Africacooperationinnetworkinfrastructurehasgreatpotential.
ThereisapressingneedinAfricaforimprovingthenetworkinfrastructure,andaslocalcapabilitiesarelimited,thereishopethatAfricacanlearnandborrowfromChina鈥檚successfulexperiences,saidAbdallahSaidSarouma,VicePresidentinchargeoftheMinistryofTransport,PostsandTelecommunicationsandInformationandCommunicationsTechnologiesofComoros.
鈥淲eclearlyunderstandtheimportanceofworkingtogetherwithChina,especiallyintheinformationandcommunicationstechnologysector,鈥漢esaid.
YOFC,afiber-opticsandcablescompanybasedinWuhan,HubeiProvince,hasalreadylaidfiber-opticsforAfricancountriessuchasEthiopiaandSouthAfrica.
ZTE,foritspart,hasalsocontributedtoimprovingAfrica鈥檚communicationinfrastructurenetwork.IncollaborationwithEthiopiaTelecom,ithasbuiltanend-to-endbroadbandnetworkinthecountry,includingfixed-linebroadbandandmobilebroadband.Inthepastdecade,thecompanyhasgrowntoservicemorethan50millionusersinAfrica,whichisaremarkablebreakthroughinthecontinent鈥檚telecommunicationsnetworkhistory.
Challengesstillmany
Greatprogresscomeswithgreatchallenges,andplayersinAfrica鈥檚networkinfrastructureindustrystillhaveplentyontheirplate.
AccordingtoJustinSaidi,PermanentSecretaryofMalawi鈥檚MinistryofInformationandCivicEducation,17percentofMalawiansarenowsurfingtheInternet.Inruralareas,however,Internetdevelopmentisstillverybackward.
Henotedthatthecountryhasdevelopedapolicytoprotectnetworksecurity,butproblemsarestillmany.
ForChinesecompanies,exploringtheAfricanmarketrequirespatience.Inthisregard,YuXiaohui,ChiefEngineerofChinaAcademyofInformationandCommunicationsTechnology,saiditisgoodforAfricangovernmentstomakeICTstrategiesandrelatedtactics,likeChina,focusingonbothinfrastructureconstructionandeconomicandsocialpoliciesrelatedtotheInternetinfrastructure.鈥淐hina鈥檚rapidincreaseinthenumberofInternetusersisattributednotonlytoitsbigmarket,butalsotoitsgoodpolicies,includingcoordinationbetweenthemarketandthegovernment,鈥漢esaid.Moreover,asChinasupportsinfrastructuredevelopmentinAfrica,companiesinthisregardshouldinsistonstrengtheningtheinterconnectionamongAfricancountries.
Networkapplicationinnovation
Withopticalfiberand4Gnetworkstakingshape,whatarebadlyneededaremoreinnovativeInternetapplications.AstraditionalindustriesandtheInternetareconverging,thecurrentInternetecosystemalsohasawiderangeofapplicationsincludingthoseinmanufacturing,financeandtransportationsectors.
Oneofthemostcompellingexamplesofanetworkapplication鈥檚successfullocalizationistheChinesesocialsoftwareWeChat,whichnowhasmorethan100millionusersoutsideChina,includingmanyinSouthAfrica.
鈥淲eareeagertoseewhatkindofWeChatfunctionscanadapttoAfricancultureandbeagoodhelptolocalpeople鈥檚life,鈥漵aidJiangYang,VicePresidentofTencentHoldingsLtd.,thecompanythatdevelopedWeChat.
JiangbelievesitiscriticalfortheInternetapplicationstotakelocalneedsintoconsiderationwhentryingtopenetratetheAfricanmarket.鈥淲eshouldgetabetterunderstandingofthelocalculture.TakingWeChatasanexample,wedonotcopytheapplicationtoAfricanmarket,butmodifyittobettermeetlocalusers鈥檔eeds,鈥滼iangadded.
OnecouldbetthisissurelythekindofchallengesyoungMasegoDibetlewouldlovetotackleasafutureICTengineeratHuawei.
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Huaweitestsitsfirst4.5GnetworkinNamibiaCOURTESYPHOTO