Huawei plans to invest USD$150 million (approx. UGX533.25 billion) in digital talent development over the next five years and over 3 million youth are expected to benefit from the development.
“As part of our commitment to continuously developing talent, we will invest USD$150 million in Huawei Seeds for the Future Program 2.0. over the next five years to help college students and young people improve their digital skills,” Liang Hua, Huawei’s Chairman said in a press statement.
In 2008, Huawei began to expand its talent development programs, through scholarships, technology competitions, and digital skills training, and has invested more than USD$150 million in these programs which has seen more than 1.54 million people from over 150 countries benefit from the program.
Seeds for the Future is a program that aims to help cultivate youth around the world, providing them with training from global ICT experts on the latest technology to help them develop the skills and mindsets needed to be competitive in the workplaces of the future.
Huawei’s Seeds for the Future was officially launched in Uganda in 2015 and the announcement was made during a meeting between; Huawei’s Senior Vice President; Mr. Li Dafeng with President Museveni during his official visit to Beijing. The program has trained over 67+ Ugandan students and approximately 22 have directly benefited through internships and job opportunities availed to them.
The program and Huawei’s efforts in ICT talent development in Uganda has been recognized by the government. In 2018 while flagging off the students to China for further studies in the program, the First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Janet Museveni said the program is crucial to the Uganda’s ICT development which is now a key driver for economic development globally. She further went to thank Huawei for standing with Uganda in the struggle of building our muscle in ICT.
Through the Seeds for the Future Program, students get access to Huawei’s latest technology including; Artifical Intelligence, Blockchian, Cloud Computing, 5G, Machine Learning, to mention a few, which gives them a valuable insight into how ICT works to change our lives. They are expected to get the best skills so they can innovate and create local solutions that will serve our communties.
Yang Chen, Vice President of Huawei Southern Africa Region, said Huawei is committed to Africa’s human resource development.
“Africa has the youngest population in the world. These youth are Africa’s greatest resource which will power the economy in the future. So at Huawei we have partnered with African governments, and education institutes to equip the future leaders with the latest knowledge in ICT at the very highest global levels and provide them opportunities to apply it to achieve a better future for the continent,” said Chen.
