ICT students from Nigeria alongside others from the Sub-Saharan Africa region, made a strong showing at the global finale of the 8th Huawei ICT Competition held in Shenzhen, China, from May 23-26.
Nigeria won big at the event with two of the four teams that won the grand prize being from the country with the Nigeria Cloud Team 2, and Nigeria Computing Team coming top.
However, three teams from Nigeria were part of the six teams that won the first prize: Kenya Network Team 1, Kenya Network Team 2, Nigeria Network Team 1, Nigeria Network Team 2, Uganda Network Team 2, and Nigeria Cloud Team 1.
The Madagascar Network Team, Kenya Computing Team 1, and Uganda Computing Team won second prize. 5 teams won third prize: Kenya Cloud Team 1, Kenya Cloud Team 2, Kenya Computing Team 2, Ghana – Farm Choice (Innovation Track), South Africa – ATS (Innovation Track), and the Women in Tech Award was won by 2 teams: Uganda Network Team 2, Kenya Cloud Team 2.
The 2023-2024 ICT Competition circuit attracted more than 170,000 students from over 2,000 universities and colleges.
The Sub-saharan region entered a total of 18 teams with the most of any other region and emerged with the most prizes of any other region.
More than 160 teams consisting of over 470 contestants from 49 different countries and regions reached the global final in Shenzhen, having previously been successful in their respective national and regional competitions.
Commenting at the event, the coach of grand prize-winning Nigeria Cloud Team 2 from the University of Ibadan, Prof. Olayinka Taibat Jinadu, said, “This competition is really important to close the gap between academia and the application of that knowledge in Industry.”
In his remarks, the coach of Second Prize Kenya Computing Team 1 at Zetech University, Prof. Samuel Kinuthia Kariuki, stated, ”The skills that the students are gaining through this competition will help them gain employable skills that are in demand in Kenya, and across the whole of Africa and maybe the whole world.”
While speaking on her experience at the competition, a student of University of Venda, Vhutshilo Maeba, who earned third prize for her team’s road safety innovation on behalf of South Africa, said, “It opened my mind to think more technically and to the fact that tech can be used to bridge any gap in industry. It has exposed me to possibilities.”
Commenting on the global final, Principal Secretary, State Department for TVET, Kenya Ministry of Education, Dr. Esther Thaara Muoria, stated, “We in Kenya are grateful to organizations like Huawei for organizing a fraternity like this one where a student will work knowing that they are not only working for the absolute knowledge that they are going to get in the process, but also towards an opportunity to fight it out with others and be able to be awarded.”
In his address at the 2023-2024 ICT Competition final closing and awarding ceremony, President of Institute of Strategic Research, Huawei, Zhou Hong, said, “To make sure everyone can truly enjoy the benefits of digitalization while such technologies are making radical progress, Huawei believes it is crucial to guarantee that digital technologies are accessible to all.”
On his part, President, ICT Strategy and Business Development Department, Huawei, Peng Honghua, said, “ICT is the cornerstone of the intelligent world. Through the Huawei ICT Competition, we aim to provide students with a global platform to compete and exchange ideas.”
