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BY EMEKA AGINAM
As part of its technology transfer commitment in providing more training opportunities to Nigeria in 2014, the Vice President of the leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, Huawei West Africa, Mr. Hover Gao has disclosed that the company in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology, FMCT have committed about N315 million in ICT trainings in Nigeria.

It would be recalled that Huawei was the first ICT solutions provider to establish an ICT training center in Abuja back in 2004 and since then the training center has provided more than 5,000 opportunities to ICT practitioners.

Before now, Huawei on the 4th of November 2013 had announced a partnership with the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology, FMCT to provide 1,000 Nigerian girls with basic ICT training, which is part of the global campaign “Tech Needs Girls” developed by The International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Gao who stated this in a press conference at the weekend said that this global sensitization campaign has raged for over 20 years and has produced tangible results in many countries including Nigeria.

With this, he further disclosed that , Marco Obiso, the Cyber security Coordinator of International Telecom Union (ITU), on November, 2013 had visited Huawei Nigeria to evaluate this program and to share the experience with ITU members globally.

Accordingly, the investment on this program, he said form Huawei worth N215 million Naira and additional N100 million from the FMCT.

The training program flagged off in November 2013 between the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology and Huawei, according to Gao has already provided 424 training opportunities for the Nigerian girls during 9 sessions until now.

By the end of this program, he said hat 200 top participants out of the 1,000 girls will get further training for the attainment of a certification as Huawei Certified Datacom Associate (HCDA).
Top achievers with Huawei HCDA certification , according to him, will have the priority-access to Huawei Human resources pool to be employed by Huawei.

“All the participants will be recommended by Huawei to Huawei Channel partners such as operators, ICT solutions providers and ICT departments in enterprises. An awards ceremony will be organized this April as ITU has designated the 4th Thursday in April every year as a day set to celebrate and encourage girls to take up careers in ICT” he added.

To grow with Nigeria, the VP of Huawei West Africa said that the ICT company increased its investment in Nigeria year by year.

“Huawei is the first ICT solutions provider who invests millions of dollars to establish its regional network operation center in Lagos which is said to have the capability of maintaining all the Huawei networks in Africa.

“ In 2013, Huawei set up an ICT exhibition hall in Lagos. Thousands of people of different background have visited the exhibition hall to get a better understanding of ICT industry,”explained.

By so doing, he said that Huawei strives to create a platform to nurture work-ready and world-
To bridge the digital divide, he said hat Huawei also established ICT scholarship programs in Nigeria to support university students.

The Vice President of Huawei West Africa assured that the company was committed to providing more training opportunities to Nigeria in 2014.

Disclosing that Huawei is now trying to create a platform for more people to get involved in this program, he said: “Technology transfer is the key strategy of Huawei Nigeria and localization is another one. The ICT training programs for Huawei partners and Huawei staffs are initiatives to make these strategies practical.

“It is a Win-Win business for Huawei to provide the training courses. Firstly, staffs of Huawei and the telecom companies will be educated with the latest ICT solutions and technologies, which will empower them with the knowledge to find the best solutions for Nigeria telecoms industry.

“Secondly, talents can be cultivated and selected during the training program. Top trainees will be recommended to core post such as networks planning officer. Thirdly, the training program for young students will inspire their interests in ICT which will attract more talents to this industry.”

“ICT industry is booming in Nigeria and statistics show that ICT industry has contributed about 8% to GDP growth while this figure might be 15% by 2015. But there are also challenges for ICT industry such as stable power solutions for telecom infrastructures, National Broadband construction, better and cheaper access to internet.

“How to solve these problems and how Nigeria can hold the leading position in building a modern information nation are challenges for all the stakeholders.

“The competitive Human resources are the key factors for the sustainable growth in every industry. Huawei would like to face the challenges and seize the opportunities to make better telecom connections for Nigeria by cultivating more local talents and ICT professions besides providing innovative equipments and solutions”, Gao explained.