Addis Ababa, June 03, 2021 (Walta) – The newly inaugurated Huawei-Addis Ababa University ICT practice center promotes the country’s digitization efforts and produces competent human powers in the telecom sector through connecting students with practice-based learning opportunities.
On the occasion, Ministry of Science and Higher Education State Minister Mulu Nega (Ph.D.) the inauguration of Huawei-AAU ICT practice center fills the skill gap and improves the quality of education. Currently, the need for highly qualified ICT graduates is very important for the country to realize the vision of building a digital economy, according to him. The center will have a greater contribution in experience sharing and knowledge exchange between the Chinese and Ethiopian telecom operators, he stated.
Addis Ababa University President Prof. Tassew Woldehana said that the center will enable AAU students to transform their theoretical learning into practice and become competent in the telecom sector after graduation.
As the country is liberalizing the telecom sector, having trained and qualified human powers in the sector is fundamental to meet the target, he stressed. Huawei North Africa Executive Vice President Philippe Wang said that this milestone comes just after the Ethiopian government awarded the first telecom license to a new operator.
Huawei installed the up-to-date telecom equipment in the AAU pharmacy campus for educational purposes. After 3 years’ know-how transfer, Addis Ababa University will gain 100% ownership of the ICT Practice Center. The first to East Africa, the 2.1 million USD investment of the project includes a donation scope of 1.9 Million USD worth of equipment for training and demonstration, and the Train the Trainer program to Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT) teaching staff.
“The center will play a cornerstone role in building long-term relations, a platform for resource sharing, and joint development efforts,” he said. Accordingly, the center targets to train more than 2,000 engineers including students and teachers to boost the talent ecosystem of Ethiopia in the coming three years, according to EPA.