Huawei Technologies Managing Director, Gu-Mu said his company is committed to supporting government in promoting Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the country.
He made the remarks on Wednesday in Lilongwe when Huawei Technologies handed over the donation of smart office equipment worth over K55 million to Ministry of Information and Digitalizations department, E-Government.
Gu-Mu said the donation they have made is part of fulfilling their commitment to promoting ICT in the country.
“One of the main reasons for this donation is to fuel the digitalization momentum of the country, and pave the way for fulfilling the Malawi 2063 Vision; this Vision recognizes that ICT is necessary for Malawis development.
“In a world that is rapidly evolving, the importance of ICT cannot be overstated. It is the driving force behind progress, connecting people, ideas, and opportunities like never before,” Gu-Mu said.
Huawei started operating in Malawi in 2007, as part of promoting ICT in the country the company has been providing free ICT training to more than 200 university students across the country through Huaweis Seeds for the Future program.
Huawei has also worked hand in hand with the government of Malawi to develop the nations ICT infrastructure through various projects, including the Malawi National Fiber Backbone Project which has connected all 28 districts in the country.
The fiber project has assisted in creating high-speed network coverage as well as improving the countrys business environment.
Additionally, the government and Huawei also cooperated on the Last Mile Rural Connectivity project from 2018 to 2023, with Huawei constructing 28 towers that cover more than 532,000 people in rural areas.
Apart from providing ICT related support, the company has been also actively involved in the donation of desks to needy schools and relief items to cyclone survivors as part of its corporate social responsibility drive.
Minister of Information and Digitalization, Moses Kunkuyu hailed Huawei Technologies for the support it lenders to the government in order to enhance issues of ICT in the country.
Kunkuyu urged Huawei Technologies to scale up its support which include lowering cost of its smart gadgets in order to improve the accessibility of smart gadgets among people in the country.
“My call to Huawei is that they should raise their volume in as far as their corporate social responsibility is concerned, we are living in a digital era and where we have companies like Huawei almost stationed here in Malawi for over the past 13 years.
“Therefore our expectation is that they should also hold our hand in other areas like ensuring we have access to digital smart devices at a lower cost because one thing that hinders people from being fully participating on digitalization agenda is the cost of smart gadgets,” Kunkuyu said.
