Accra, Oct 28, GNA – Huawei Technologies has launched the 6th edition of its global flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, “Ghana Sky Seeds for the Future programme” in Accra.
The programme, in partnership with the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Education, UNESCO, National Council of Tertiary Education and three Universities, looks forward to giving 50 university students in STEM the opportunity to expand their scope in ICT.
It is also advocating more female participation in ICT.
The Universities are the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Ghana Communications Technology University (GCTU).
The intensive five days’ experience, which will be held online, will introduce students to new technologies, equip them with the necessary skills to enable them to identify and harness new opportunities in ICT.
It will also offer participants the opportunity to meet and connect with top ICT professionals in the technology space.
This year, beneficiaries will experience a virtual tour of the Huawei Head Quarters in China and go through advanced courses like Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Digital Trade, Digital Economy, Cross-Cultural Management, Strategic Management, Leadership Skills and other open ecosystem pieces of training.
Participants will also get the opportunity to experience Chinese Culture and hi-tech Huawei laboratories through various scheduled virtual tours as well as live interactions with industry leaders in Ghana and China.
Mr Kwesi Yankah, the Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education, who launched the event virtually, commended Huawei for the effort made in ensuring the 2020 Seeds for the Future Programme was held despite the COVID-19.
“Government knows with gratitude, Huawei’s support of technical university across the country in capacity building, promoting cutting edge projects like ‘5G’ technology, cloud computing and Routing & Switching and as a result highly appreciates the effort,” he said.
The Minister entreated beneficiaries to embrace the project with all seriousness and use the opportunity to learn and obtain the skillset needed to become useful to themselves and the country.
Mr Diallo Abdourahamane, Country Director, UNESCO Ghana, lauded Huawei for prompting the 2020 Seeds for the Future programme well in Ghana and contributing its quota towards ICT development across borders.
“As an organization working with its Member States to bring knowledge to societies that are inclusive, open and participatory, UNESCO does not only applaud your effort but recognizes Huawei as a partner in building knowledgeable societies,” he said.
Professor Felix Asante, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana, expressed the hope that through the collaboration, the digitization agenda of Ghana and UG as a public University would be improved.
“UG is very happy to be part of this launch and we will be glad to work with you to develop more ideas to support STEM in Ghana,” he said.
Mr Edward Hou, Vice President, Huawei Technologies Company Limited, reiterated that Huawei’s Seeds for the Future initiative was introduced because of the huge potential discovered in industry-academia collaboration.
He said through the programme, Huawei intended to cultivate future-ready talent and encourage young people in Africa and around the globe to communicate, challenge, and discuss ideas in a cross-cultural environment whiles creating more sparkle for technology and civilization.
Mr Tommy Zhouwei, Managing Director of Huawei Ghana, encouraged female participants to embrace the opportunity and consider pursuing careers in the telecoms space as their presence and contribution were greatly needed in the sector.
He said in the heat of the pandemic, Huawei introduced its Study at-home programme for ICT Academies, which benefitted 2,000 students out of, which over 600 of them got certified as Huawei HCIA professionals with over 500+ university students also benefitting from Huawei’s free 5G training.
Huawei’s Seeds for the Future programme has benefitted 60 university students, with additional 50 benefitting this year, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 110.
GNA