If you’ve been quick to dismiss President Lazarus Chakwera’s foreign trips as mere time-wasters, it’s time to reconsider. The rewards flowing from these international engagements are proving to be monumental. Just yesterday, while attending the China-Africa summit, President Chakwera lauded Huawei Technologies for its pivotal role in transforming Malawi’s digital landscape.
Meeting with Huawei’s Vice President Li Junfeng and the Technical Management Team in Beijing, the President highlighted how Malawi has reaped substantial benefits from Huawei’s trailblazing innovations in e-government, e-health, and e-learning. From state-of-the-art devices to cutting-edge digital solutions, Huawei’s contributions have been nothing short of revolutionary for Malawi.
“My administration is also keen on collaborating with Huawei in several specific areas of Smart Village Initiative for rural communities including the establishment of technical training centers for ICT to help us upskill our youth in digital skills, AI and cybersecurity, Smart agriculture solutions to support our large-scale farm initiatives, and Cybersecurity for Malawi’s digital landscape, said Chakwera.
The President emphatically reaffirmed his administration’s ironclad commitment to the minigrid project, a bold initiative to expand electricity access nationwide. He vowed to relentlessly pursue financing opportunities to scale up the project, driven by the promising results of feasibility studies identifying numerous viable areas across Malawi.
In a moment of national pride, the President also celebrated the inauguration of Malawi’s first cutting-edge National Data Centre in Blantyre earlier this year. This milestone was made possible by Huawei’s successful execution of the Fibre Backbone Project, catapulting Malawi onto the global digital stage and placing it on par with the world’s most developed nations.
In an interview with Malawian media, Huawei Technologies’ Managing Director for Malawi, Gomez Gu, affirmed the company’s unwavering dedication to supporting Malawi’s digital transformation, particularly through microgrid solutions designed to electrify rural areas and power the country’s computing needs.
