Why talent is key to Africa’s prosperity

“Talent is the foundation for prosperity,” was the stirring message delivered in a keynote speech at the recent Africa Tech Festival 2024 in Cape Town.

Mohamed Madkour, vice-president of ICT strategy and marketing at Huawei, made the statement in an opening address focused on the urgent need for intelligent connectivity and transformation in Africa.

“Africa has achieved a lot over the last decade, but we still need to work harder for Africa to leap in the Era of 5G and intelligence,” he said.

Two crucial trends will fuel this growth and help build a sustainable digital society, first industrialising ICT and also leveraging it in digitalising other industries. To achieve this transition, Africa must focus on its services, infrastructure, talent and environment.

“At Huawei, beside diversified intelligent ICT infrastructure solutions offering, we pay a lot of attention to talent, ecosystem, environment, as well as open partnerships and collaboration with all stake holders,” said Madkour. About half of the devices being used to access the internet in Sub Saharan Africa were 2G or 3G phones, he said.

“We need to get that remarkable device, the smartphone, into the hands of every African person.”.

Mohamed Madkour, vice-president of ICT strategy and marketing at Huawei

The second trend that should ignite Africa’s digital transition is building up infrastructure to bring services closer to people. 

“More than 300-million people live 50 kilometres or more away from the closest fibre or cable broadband connection,” said Madkour. “Home broadband needs a really big boost.”

These efforts will not just allow for more people on the continent to participate in the digital economy, but it will go a long way to closing the digital divide and enabling sustainable futures.

Environmentally friendly approach

Africa’s digital future must also be defined by new approaches to lowering environmental impacts created by ICT industries as well as utilising ICT to find solutions to global climate challenges.

“Around 20% of the global carbon emission can be cut by better usage of ICT. That’s why we say these efforts don’t just make for a green ICT industry, but if done right they will bring green operations to all industries.”

The communications and computing power that enables people to access the latest technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI), on their phones, uses up large amounts of energy resources causing further environmental strain. Madkour’s message to the festival’s attendees was that innovative ways to power next-generation technologies like 5G and AI need to be uncovered, so that these developments do not come at the cost of the planet.

 “When we talk about technology performance in Africa, we should couple that with power consumption efficiency. We should not only talk about sustainability for commercial purposes, but we also need to talk about sustainability for social purposes and prioritise the beauty of the environment in Africa.”

He said that Huawei’s strategy for sustainable digital development was to focus on the gains that can be made from these enhanced technologies and use them to unlock greener development. Huawei was supporting low-carbon transition initiatives on the continent as its leaders expand the power supply in their countries.

Through its solar microgrids, Huawei aims to deliver power to rural and remote areas without needing large-scale investments in power distribution and transmission networks. 

“Imagine a village of 150 households going from no power to receiving between 30 kW power and 60 kWh of energy storage system in three to six months. That’s crucial for closing the digital divide gap. That’s what Huawei is aiming to deliver.”

 Collaboration is the key to future development

However, no single organisation, government or operator can address these global challenges on its own.

“It all requires real proactive collaboration for us to make a real difference, Huawei is laser-focused on developing talent through academic collaboration and certifications. The people trained today will do the crucial work of transforming how our society works and its ability to develop sustainably.”

Madkour told delegates that Huawei had been in Africa for more than a quarter of a century and that it was committed to the next era of close collaboration with leaders on the continent, “bringing better life for people, more productivity for organisations and prosperity to countries’ future”.