Kigali, Rwanda –Huawei and the Ministry of ICT, Ministry of Education held their joint Seeds for the Future flag off ceremony for eight students from universities who are departing on an ICT study trip to Huawei in China. The students will travel to China for a two week ICT training in Huawei’s global headquarter in Shenzhen China where they will get hands-on experience of the latest ICT technologies and solutions.
The Seeds for the Future program is Huawei’s global CSR flagship program. Expenditure on this initiative is the highest across the company, and investment will continue over the long term.
As of the end of 2017, it has been implemented in 108 countries across five continents, benefiting over 30,000 students from more than 350 universities. This program has enabled Huawei to collaborate with local communities to share its ICT expertise, innovative technologies, and cross-cultural management experience in multiple ways.
Huawei has also facilitated knowledge transfers and helped local communities develop highly efficient education systems that nurture local talent – particularly ICT professionals – to propel the ICT industry forward.
Flagging of the students, Jack Xiong, Country Manager of Huawei Rwanda noted that “through this program, we try to enhance knowledge transfer and talent growth in Rwanda.” He further said that the ceremony is not only to see off Rwanda’s most outstanding ICT students to China for Seeds for the Future but also to plant seeds for a prosperous future enabled by ICT for the beloved country and for us all.
Ms. Josephine NYIRANZEYIMANA, CEO of RISA, on behalf of the Honorable Minister of ICT in her speech said: “the Seeds for the Future program is in line Rwanda digital transformation journey and it helps cultivate and put together ICT vocation and student that are in crucial to the industry development.”
She emphasized that “we believe that the student training in China through the program shall add as a crucial platform for sharing the latest ICT technologies and enhancing student work experience and helping to prepare the student to work efficiently in ICT and their future employment places.”
Dr. Abdallah Baquma, on behalf of the Honorable Minister of Education also congratulated the eight students and mentioned “we thank so much our leader and his excellent the president who has enabled this program. We also thank China for this initiative and more important to the Country Manager of Huawei Rwanda and his team for one main good practice of this global social responsibility. We are very sure that this friendship will bring good cooperation and development of the education sector as we take forward this.”
Xing Yuchun, the Charge d’affaires Chinese Embassy in Rwanda, wished the students can not only enhance their hands-on practice in China’s most advanced labs and gain cross-cultural work experience, but also develop their understanding of how to serve the country with the professional knowledge, how can ICT sector be an engine to promote Rwanda’s economy. “From seeds to fruits, you will become envoys of friendship between Rwanda and China.” She added.
Dr. Murigande Charles, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Institutional Advancement, University of Rwanda presented that “this is really a very good opportunity for students as it is part of University of Rwanda vision to build strong ties with industry.” Moreover, he mentioned that he has no doubt that his talented students selected for the Seeds for the Future program are going to contribute a lot to the development of ICT, and probability most of them will not need to seek for the job but will rather be job creators.
One of the beneficiaries of this initiative, Ganza Mick, thanked Huawei for the great opportunity given to them to enhance their knowledge base on ICT, through courses such as basic and advanced training. “Having an internship at HUAWEI will help us to understand more about how the world works and also to take another step closer to the vision of our country. We hope this will be achieved because we will understand more about our responsibility and that we are committed to achieving it,” he said.
Patrick NYIRISHEMA Director General of RURA, Wang Jiaxin Economic and Commercial Counselor of Chinese Embassy, Dr. NIYIMWIYITIRA Christine Head of ICT in Education Department REB attended the Flag off Ceremony.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, IT, smart devices, and cloud services – we are committed to bringing digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world.
Huawei’s end-to-end portfolio of products, solutions, and services are both competitive and secure. Through open collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create lasting value for our customers, working to empower people, enrich home life, and inspire innovation in organizations of all shapes and sizes.
At Huawei, innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in basic research, concentrating on technological breakthroughs that drive the world forward. We have more than 180,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.
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