DAR ES SALAAM, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Ten students from various Tanzania's higher learning institutions on Friday won the prestigious 2nd Huawei Tanzania ICT Competition for 2019/2020.
The 10 students from various universities won the competition out of 2,500 students from 30 higher learning institutions that participated in the competition aimed at grooming young talents in information, communication and technology (ICT) as the east African nation moved toward an industrial economy.
The competition aims at providing a platform for global ICT talents to showcase their ability, compete and communicate, encouraging ICT-related study and drive the growth of a robust ICT talent ecosystem.
The students competed in various ICT subjects including network, cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence and big data under the theme "Connection, Glory, Future".
Speaking at an award giving ceremony on behalf of Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, the Minister for Industry and Trade Innocent Bashungwa, commended Huawei Tanzania for organizing the competition saying ICT was the backbone for industrial development.
"ICT is a critical part to Tanzania's infrastructure development and a crucial enabler for Tanzania's 2025 vision," he told his audience at the University of Dar es Salaam.
At the dawn of the 4th Industrial Revolution, said Bashungwa, ICT played a pivotal role in shaping the nation's economy, providing answers to some social challenges, and enhancing inclusive and sustainable development by driving business growth, creating jobs and enhancing productivity and efficiency.
"In developing ICT skills, talents is the most important capital. Lack of skilled people will limit our capability of adapting, managing and operating new technologies," said the minister.
Frank Zhou, the CEO of Huawei Tanzania, said Huawei was working with Tanzanian government and partners to provide connectivity to uncovered rural areas by building low cost, solar powered and fast deployed base stations.
"Huawei Tanzania is proud to have been at the frontline in building a digital workforce, serving more than 35 percent of Tanzania's population since our establishment in 2007, created more than 1000 jobs directly and indirectly, also provided training to more than 2,000 ICT engineers." said Zhou.
Zhou said Huawei Tanzania was ready to utilize all latest technology in supporting Tanzania's digital transformation, especially in smart city and smart education.
He added that Huawei Tanzania has so far signed seven universities across the country to establish ICT academies, where students can access to industrially-recognized certification courses.
In addition, Zhou said Huawei Tanzania has organized together with its business partners several job fairs for over most beneficiaries of the ICT academy program and absorbed more than 80 percent of them.
Wang Ke, the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, commended Huawei Tanzania for playing an active role in fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities and making positive contributions to helping Tanzania train ICT personnel.
"This competition provides a platform for ICT talents around the globe to show their capabilities and conduct mutual exchanges," said Wang.
She said last year was the first time the competition was organized in Tanzania, but Tanzanian winners stood out at the final competition for sub-Saharan Africa and went to China to participate in the global final competition held in Shenzhen as one of the four competing teams.
"This fully demonstrates the smartness and intelligence of young Tanzanians and foretells the beautiful future of Tanzania's ICT industry," said the Chinese envoy.
She said for Tanzania to realize its goals of industrialization and becoming a middle-income country, a group of professionally trained talents was essential.
Wang said the Chinese government has been actively committing itself to providing help to Tanzania in cultivating talents and has been encouraging Chinese companies to take part in it.
"By employing local people and passing on skills and experiences, Huawei Tanzania and many other Chinese companies operating in Tanzania have trained a large number of professional technicians in various fields for Tanzania," she said.
John Lazaro, the overall winner of the competition said he looked forward to seeing as many students as possible participating in the Huawei ICT competition.
"Participating in the competition will enable the youth to support the country's industrialization agenda," said Lazaro, a third year student at the University of Dar es Salaam pursuing electronics, science and communication.
