An official of Huawei Enterprise Business Group (L, Front) presents an award to a student during the national awards ceremony for finalists in the Huawei ICT competition in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Jan. 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Charles Onyango)
Kenyan university students who winned the 2021-2022 Huawei ICT competition out of over 3,000 contestants were on Thursday feted at a ceremony attended by senior government officials and executives from the Chinese telecoms firm.
NAIROBI, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan university students who emerged overall winners of 2021-2022 Huawei ICT competition were on Thursday feted at a ceremony attended by senior government officials and executives from the Chinese telecoms firm.
The digital skills contest that attracted over 3,000 participants drawn from leading universities aimed to nurture the next generation of leaders in Kenya's fast growing knowledge economy.
Jerome Ochieng, principal secretary in the Ministry of ICT and Youth Affairs said the competition to showcase digital skills and entrepreneur spirit of local youth will boost the government's efforts to address poverty and unemployment.
"The Huawei ICT competition has complemented ongoing efforts to upskill, mentor and build the capacity of the youth to participate in the economy of the future," said Ochieng.
He said the government had forged partnership with industry to address the skills gap in the ICT sector, besides providing seed capital to spur growth of youth led technology start-ups.
According to Ochieng, a partnership with Huawei has facilitated training of youth in high-end ICT skills including block chain, internet of things (IOT), artificial intelligence, network security and cloud computing.
He said the enactment of conducive policies and regulations has spurred investments in infrastructure and manpower required to position the country as an unrivalled innovation hub.
Kevin Wen, director, Enterprise Business Group at Huawei Kenya said the telecoms firm was committed to development of digital skills among local youth in line with its corporate social responsibility ethos.
He noted that the Huawei ICT competition provided an opportunity for university students to gain practical skills, boost their employability or capacity to venture into digital enterprises.
Saidou Sireh Jallow, chief of Education at the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Regional Office for Eastern Africa said academia-industry linkages were critical to boost digital literacy among youth.
He urged governments across the east African region to prioritize investment in supportive infrastructure, training and research in order to create a robust innovation ecosystem that promise jobs and economic prosperity. ■