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Global Technology giant Huawei Technologies, held a send off ceremony for 10 university students who are travelling to China in Shenzhen and Beijing to be trained, equipped with skills and be shown how they can harness new opportunities. The event took place at Huawei’s Innovation centre in Johannesburg.

This is the first batch of 1000 South African students to be sent to China for this initiative over the next 5 years. The ceremony was graced by the South African Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Dr Siyabonga Cwele and other dignitaries.

South Africa becomes the 7th country in Africa to benefit from this program after Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Ghana.

Speaking at the send off, Dr Cwerle wished the students well on the educational tour to China to empower themselves with advanced knowledge in ICT. He said he is encouraged by young people ending up doing things for themselves as it motivates the government to do more for them . He said there should be an identification of skills for smart communities and urged the youths to make effective use of the opportunities available to them.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Huawei South Africa CEO, Mr. Steven Wu said “through the seeds of the future programme, Huawei seeks to collaborate with the South Africa Government, Higher and tertiary institutions and other organizations to select top university students and young professionals from ICT related departments, to offer them opportunities to study and gain work experience and also help them learn more about Chinese culture and gain cross-cultural work experience in a global business environment.”

The students will also be taught of cutting edge technologies such as 4G, 5G, LTE and cloud computing and offered opportunities for hands on practice in Huawei’s most advanced labs.

Mr Wu went on to say they are impressed with the co-operation they have with the South African Government particularly the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services which he said was a great example of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and look forward to more co-operation with the Government in future.

Also attending the ceremony was the Chinese Economic and Commercial Counselor Mr. Rong Yansong who said: “Thanks to SA government and the DTPS Minister himself for providing support to Chinese Enterprises in South Africa, the cooperation between China and South Africa will benefit the African continent and. wished the students can be experienced ambassadors on their return to South Africa.”

Every year, Huawei invites students from various countries, to study at the Head quarters where they also learn of future trends in technology. The name of the program represents the company’s desire to nurture promising young professionals in every country where Huawei operates.

The learners are from the Tshwane University of Technology, Central University of Technology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Cape Peninsular University of Technology and the Durban University of Technology. They are third year or B-Tech students in Communications Networks, Information Technology, Software Development and Business Applications.

By Vardis Banga

Contact information
Mrs Debbie Derry
Deputy Director: Communication
Tel: 041 504 3057
debbie.derry@mandela.ac.za