Rt. Hon. Rukia Nakadama Flags Off Huawei ICT Competition Finalists to China

The third deputy Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Rukia Nakadama has today witnessed the start of DigiTruck training in the Busoga region in Jinja and also flagged off 17 students and their instructors to attend the Huawei global ICT Competitions in Shenzhen China.

This project was previously launched by H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on 8th March 2023 in Sanga Kiruhura.

Speaking at the ceremony, Rt. Hon. Rukia Nakadama, appreciated Huawei for the innovation of the mobile digital training Centre as she acknowledged ICT as the major driver in today’s digital economy.

“Government considers Huawei as a very strategic and important partner in the transformation of Uganda. We also acknowledge with appreciation Huawei for building smart infrastructure here, such as aiding education through ICT,” she said.

H.E. Zhang Lizhong, the Chinese Ambassador to Uganda said Uganda is an important partner for China in Africa and the two countries enjoy profound traditional friendship.

“In recent years, our political mutual trust continues to be consolidated, the practical cooperation in all fields yielding fruitful achievements. China wishes to cooperate with Uganda continuously to promote the Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership in scoring new achievements,” said Lizhong.

He added that “The DigiTruck Project that Huawei has started in Uganda is one of the examples of Chinese companies in Uganda performing due social responsibilities. I hope Huawei Uganda will continue to work on that.”

The Digi-truck project commenced training in Busoga Region specifically Jinja District where it skilled and certified over 80 youth, and elderly people with basic ICT Skills. This is expected to continue in Iganga, Kamuli, and other regions of Uganda. This initiative aims to provide free digital skills training to more than 10,000 Ugandans over three years.

Mr. Sunrise Huawei Uganda Managing Director encouraged the 80 trainees to use the skills acquired during the DigiTruck training to indulge in e-Commerce, sell their farm produce online, and also to get jobs.

The Huawei DigiTruck project will focus on providing digital literacy skills training to youth, Jua-Kali enterprises, and women. The goal is to create sustainable livelihood opportunities and expand the customer landscape, allowing small businesses to provide clients with a greater range of products and services. The training will also improve financial inclusion through improved mobile money operations.

At the same event, the 2022/23 Huawei Global finalists were also flagged off today to go to Shenzhen, China, and are scheduled to travel on May 21st to attend and participate in the finals that are set to take place from 23-27 May.

Uganda is to be represented by four teams of three students and their teachers each from Makerere, Kyambogo, and Muni University.

These finals are to be attended by approximately 48 countries with over 150 teams from Southern Africa (sub-Saharan), Northern Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America.

The annual Huawei ICT Competition is a key piece of the ICT Academy Campaign. It targets university and college students worldwide, aiming to facilitate communication between schools, enterprises, and governments while building a robust talent ecosystem. Through this competition, Huawei aims to challenge the students’ ICT knowledge as well as practical and application skills, and ultimately, inspire innovation with the theme of “connection, glory, future”.