15 Kenyan students are set to join a global elite of top students to showcase their skill at understanding and navigating the latest ICT solutions during the 7th edition of the Huawei global ICT competition in China.
Beating a strong field of 4,500 Kenyans in the country’s national final, they also represented Kenya in the African competition where they emerged among the top three out of 16 countries. This year’s competition being held in China, is its 7th edition and follows the previous successes that other Kenyan students have achieved in proving the ICT prowess at previous meets. In Kenya, the challenge has attracted more than 13,000 students since 2018 and this year registered over 4,000 students from more than 50 University and College partners.
Hon Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary, who saw them off for the landmark trip congratulated the 15 students, acknowledging that their stellar performance was the reason they had been given the responsibility of representing their country on the global stage.
“Your performance in the National final of the Huawei ICT Competition and in the Regional Final has made our country proud, whilst also showing that our strategies and investments in education, skills and digital technologies are paying off,” said Mudavadi. He explained that developing a skilled workforce is a key plank of the National Digital Masterplan which aims to arm at least 10,000 Kenyans with digital skills annually.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary explained that for the government, achieving the digital super highway goes beyond building the technology infrastructure and making it available to every Kenya, to ensuring that every Kenyan has the skills to ride on the superhighway and use it to reach the destination that they are aiming for in their life.
“This is the essence of the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda that aims at providing the opportunities and enabling environment for our people to thrive,” he noted.
Echoing his remarks, Steven Zhang, Deputy CEO for Public Affairs at Huawei Kenya pointed out that the firm was committed to investing in ICT skills development for Kenyans, and to bridge the gap within the shortest time frame possible.
“Our involvement in supporting the government to expand the country’s digital superhighway is borne from our belief that it is important for Kenya to build world class digital infrastructure,” he said.
He added that the firm will ramp up its partnerships and engagement with government, academia, non-profits and other private sector to grow the ICT talent ecosystem. To do this, Huawei Kenya will continue to cultivate high-quality ICT talent to facilitate the development of the digital economy.
The Huawei ICT Competition is a competitive ICT talent exchange event developed by the firm for college students globally and is designed to promote the healthy development of the ICT talent ecosystem and support the integration of industry and education.
