Chinese government trains Nigerians on ICT

The Chinese Government has commenced an overseas training course on telecommunications technologies for Nigerian public servants in Abuja, to equip them with skills to develop national ICT plan and improve the infrastructure in their various fields.

The training is aimed at expanding Nigeria ICT official’s telecom management view, promote the development of technology industry in Nigeria, taking advantage of Huawei’s local resources to boost talent development in Nigeria, which will further consolidate   traditional friendship between China and Nigeria.

Speaking at the flag off ceremony, the Managing Director of the training company, Huawei Technologies, Tank Liteny, observed that Huawei over the last few years had trained over 3,000 Nigerians in ICT. He urged the Nigerian Government to seize the opportunity to leverage the evolving technological trends from 2G to 4G to fast track its economic development.

Liteny noted that Huawei had so far built more than 20,000 base stations in Nigeria, which had further increased penetration from 0.02 per cent to 83.7 per cent over the last 10 years.

While thanking the Chinese Government for sponsoring the training, he said their most experienced experts had been lined up to support and do their best to empower every participant in the programme.

“As we all know, ICT is a fast developing industry; network has evolved from 2G to 3G, from 3G to 4G. Now it is evolving from 4G to 5G. It does not only change the way of life, but also changes the way we work.

“The progress in ICT has been remarkable over the last 10 years. Our dormitories are covered with Wi-Fi and 4G and our staff can use Wi-Fi of 4G network to have a video chat with their families at any time, which makes them feel so close to home.”
With this feat, he said Nigerian now has more than 150 million mobile users and Internet users.

“Now the age of Internet of Things has come, connecting people and people, people and things, things and things have begun. This will definitely improve way of life. To accelerate this evolution, talent is a key factor. We hope by Huawei training programme, more talents in ICT field can grow and finally contribute to Nigeria’s digital change,” he said.

Also speaking, the Consular Economic and Commercial Office of China Embassy, Zhao Linxiang, said the training is expected to meet the needs of Nigeria to develop telecom and ICT industry.

By giving more Nigerians more opportunities to training courses, he said China can build even better relationship with Nigeria.

“In the past, we recommended many Nigerian officials and technicians from various fields to training courses, giving many Nigerians chances to go to china and learn and they benefitted a lot from the training. This year is the first time that Chinese government holds bilateral training in Nigeria. The two governments have already had fruitful capacity building cooperation,” Linxiang said.

While calling on Nigeria to give the industry top priority, he emphasised the need for a vibrant telecommunications and IVT sector to drive and expand Nigeria’s national production frontiers across all sectors of the economy.

He also urged Nigeria to explore the enormous potential of its ICT sector to advance its economy.

In his own remarks, the Director, International Cooperation, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Simon Elohoo, said since the entrance of Huawei into Nigeria, it has helped to build Nigeria’s telecom market and earn foreign exchange.

He urged Huawei to key into the Federal Government Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, to revive the economy.