Tech

25 Kenyan students complete Huawei digital tech immersion in China

Published

6 months ago

July 10, 2024

Twenty five Kenyan students under the “Huawei Seeds for Future” programme have completed a one-week digital technology immersion skills during an ICT study tour in Shanghai, China.

A statement from Huawei said the programme which coincided with MWC Shanghai 2024 only admits students from selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and equips them with digital skills to innovate and create technological solutions for their communities and for the job markets.

“As part of the tour, the students worked on a group project dubbed Tech4Good aimed at leveraging technology to address current social and environmental issues,” the statement said.

“Sylvia Jebet of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology emerged second place during the 2024 Leadership Employability Advancement Possibility (LEAP) Summit, out of over 50 students from various Sub-Saharan Africa countries that participated. Kenya had four (4) participants.

“Jebet was feted for her outstanding performance in Digital Content creation that featured various sites during the tour including Huawei Watt Exhibition Hall, a visit to the DJI R&D centre in Shenzhen, and a tour of the Huawei Songshan Lake visit, among others.”

At the end of the training, Huawei announced a new plan to train an additional 150,000 talent in Sub-Saharan Africa over the next three years.

“The plan comes on top of the Company’s initial goal to equip over 100,000 people in the region with digital skills by 2025. Huawei has already exceeded its initial goal by 120%, 10 months ahead of schedule, training over 120,000 individuals over the past 26 months,” the statement added.

So far, Huawei has trained over 18,000 young African techies from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and other African countries.

Hover Gao, President of Sub-Saharan Africa, Huawei, who spoke during the graduation ceremony of the Kenyan students said:

“We have made much positive progress in talent development across African countries, but this would not have been possible without the joint efforts of government agencies, academia, and industry.

“Under the LEAP framework, Huawei trains its partners in the digital power and cloud ecosystem, hosts training and incubations for teachers and also hosts job fairs,” he added.

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Tech

Facebook returns to Uganda after 4-year ban

Published

19 hours ago

December 24, 2024

Isaac Dachen

After four years of being in the cooler as a result of suspension by government, Facebook, now Meta, is making a return to Uganda after prolonged negotiations saw the Ugandan government reverse the ban it placed on the platform since 2021.

The suspension of the social media platform had stemmed from accusations by the government that Facebook was meddling in the country’s political affairs during the 2021 presidential elections which arose after it deleted government-affiliated accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.

This ban of Facebook has led to widespread disruptions across the nation, affecting not only political discourse but also personal connections and business operations.

But according to reports, with a potential re-launch on the horizon for December 2024, Facebook’s comeback could be a game-changer with approximately 2.5 million Ugandans poised to reconnect on the platform, while the Uganda Revenue Authority stands to gain financially from its revival just as businesses, especially smaller enterprises, stand to benefit from advertising incomes.

Tech

20 African tech-preneurs embark on Korean innovation tour

Published

3 days ago

December 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The African Development Bank Group’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab has selected 20 promising tech entrepreneurs from various African technology ventures and enterprise support organisations to embark on a two-week study tour of the Republic of Korea, with the aim of seeking investment and insights from the country’s innovative tech ecosystem.

The selected entrepreneurs are from 133 ventures that participated in last month’s Africa Tech Startup Forum.

The forum which will hold under the auspices of the lab’s “Leveraging the Entrepreneurial and Innovation Success of Korea to Strengthen African Enterprise Support” project, had selected entrepreneurs who pitched the best business models during the week-long virtual market access and acceleration programme preparing, training, and connecting technology ventures with opportunities.

The 20 young tech-preneurs were selected from eight African countries including Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda, with the delegates spanning various sectors in the technology space.

While in Korea, the African delegates will pay visits to prestigious institutions such as Global Startup Centre, LG Science Park, the Korea Software Technology Association, and the Global Digital Innovation Network.

Speaking on behalf of the delegates, founder of Kenya-based health technology venture Zuri Health, Uche Ezadinachi said:

“I am excited to go to Korea because the country has made serious technological developments. The country is a technology-driven society, and this tour is an opportunity for me to see how we can bring such technology to Africa.

“We will share experiences with our Korean counterparts; they will learn from us as much as we learn from them,” he added.