How Huawei is positioning itself for the next tech revolution in Africa
Huawei Afrique Chine Tech télécoms innovation 5G Intelligence artificielle IA Shanghai Shenzhen Hupertain is positioning itself for the next tech revolution in Africa, with its annual Tech4All Global Summit 2023 in Shanghai. This year, the Kenyan Kenyan government presented some advances and the technological ambitions of his country, which propelled the continent to the forefront of the international scene seventeen years ago with the appearance of mobile money. In Ethiopia, the tech giant has deployed artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in agriculture, making it possible to determine the capacity of soils or the cost of crops, as part of a partnership with the High Court of Justice. Huawei's research and development (R&D) centers, which cover 28 of the 44 African countries in which the firm is present on the continent, are attracting investment from its research centers. Africa is a strategic target for Huawei, which is not listed on the stock exchange, but whose global business has suffered considerably from American sanctions between 2020 and 2021.
发表 : 2年前 经过 archyde 在 Tech
Immersion. A bustling megacity of 27 million inhabitants, Shanghai is the most populous city in China, but also the flagship of its modernity. It was also here that the Tech4All Global Summit 2023 was held at the end of September, an annual meeting signed by Huawei which promotes the construction of a more inclusive and more environmentally friendly digital world with, this year, a zoom on Africa. The Kenyan Martin Kungania presented some advances and the technological ambitions of his country, which propelled the continent to the forefront of the international scene seventeen years ago with the appearance of mobile money. This East African country is now developing the concept of connected schools where information and communication technologies (ICTs) are integrated into teaching, learning and educational management. The emphasis is therefore placed on training digital talents. “Kenya’s ambition is to ensure that Kenyans of tomorrow can navigate any environment in the world,” he declared, recalling Vision 2030 which aims to make the country a breeding ground for the most cutting-edge technological skills, from a very young age. A vision whose implementation is supported by Huawei, just as is the case in Egypt, South Africa or Ghana.
In Ethiopia, the tech giant, which works in particular with the national company Ethio Telecom, has also deployed artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in agriculture, making it possible to determine the capacity of soils or the cost of crops, but also in the field of justice as part of a partnership with the High Court of Justice. According to the firm, an AI made it possible to dissect the legal texts, favoring the improvement of hearings and sentences in the courts, as well as the cost of certain procedures.
Whether based on AI, on the Cloud or on Big Data… and whether they concern various areas such as connectivity using 5G, cybersecurity, renewable energies, finance, port management , mining and oil exploitation, telemedicine or sport, all the innovations deployed by Huawei – which therefore feeds a growing appetite for Africa – emanate from its research and development (R&D) centers. Here, the teams – dominated by engineering profiles – represent 54% of the Chinese equipment manufacturer’s 207,000 employees in 170 countries around the world. These centers today constitute a large investment item which will have swallowed around 23.2 billion dollars in 2022 (i.e. 25% of the group’s revenues), compared to 8.3 billion dollars in 2015. Shanghai is precisely one of the few cities in the world that host a Huawei research center. “Our real strength is investment in research and development”says during a guided tour Adnane Ben Alima, vice-president in charge of public relations at Huawei Northern Africa (HNA), the entity based in Casablanca in Morocco and which covers 28 of the 44 African countries in which the firm is present on the continent.
Like all foreign multinationals interested in Africa, the world leader in telecoms equipment is attracted by the potential for economic growth – seven out of ten of the fastest growing economies in the world being African before Covid-19 -, but also by the potential in terms of infrastructure boosted by galloping urbanization and by the consumer market constituted by the continent with its youth, who will represent 35% of the planet’s young people by 2050, according to the Nations United. “ Therefore, the future consumers, the active population and the leaders of tomorrow will be African. In addition, Africans have a culture of entrepreneurship,” lists Edison Xie, vice-president in charge of public relations of the group. “With all this data, added Ben Alima, Africa represents an enormous challenge. In this context, ICTs are an opportunity, but also a must.”
In reality, Africa is a strategic target for this multinational which is not listed on the stock exchange, but whose global business has suffered considerably from American sanctions between 2020 and 2021. According to Xie, “the campaign against” the Chinese juggernaut caused a 40% drop in its turnover in the smartphone segment in the first year. But the strategies deployed by the firm, he says, have allowed it to bring this data down to 11% in 2022, while global revenue growth has timidly returned to green, showing an increase of 1%. “We hope to get back into the race very soon,” confided this spokesperson during a Shanghai meeting with the press.
To consolidate its future prospects, the largest private company in China announced, on September 20, its new African strategy for the next five years called: “Accelerating intelligence for a new Africa”. This new roadmap is broken down into three axes, namely: technological inclusion with an emphasis on health and education; improving the business environment, urban traffic and the economic resilience of States; and finally, the transformation of key industries for the continent such as agriculture and hydrocarbons (oil and gas).
$430 million in investments over five years
So by 2028, Huawei will invest $430 million, with $200 million to establish Africa’s first public Cloud node, offering more than 200 Cloud services; $200 million in the development of the Tech ecosystem and $30 million in talent cultivation. “The aim is to train 10,000 local developers and 100,000 digital talents within five years”, said Colin Hu, President Enterprise and Cloud Business at HNA. Edison Xie explains this craze for the Chinese flagship: “Usually, innovation comes from Europe or America, China or Japan. But as we have seen how M-Pesa technology, over the last decade, has moved from Africa – Kenya specifically – to the world, we see Africa as the future global center of innovation.”
In the group’s turnover, revenues from Africa are recorded under the Europe, Africa and Middle East (EMEA) structure, which represents 23% of overall revenues. But Huawei is counting on its future investments and the promises of African markets in terms of growth to boost its revenues in the region. “We must all continue to fuel the fire of intelligence in Africa, so that intelligence dreams become a reality more quickly”for his part declared Terry He, president of HNA during the Huawei Northern Africa Night where an AI provided master of ceremonies.
When African presidents will touch on innovations
In China, the technological acceleration is palpable across the country where there is already talk in particular of 5.5G, an improvement of certain functionalities of 5G developed by Huawei. Shenzhen, considered the Chinese “Sillicon Valley”, is the city of residence of the founder, the influential and discreet billionaire Ren Zhengfei and that of the headquarters of the multinational which houses both offices, living spaces and residences intended to employees wishing to live near their workplace. This immense complex which notably houses the famous Darwin Hall – the exhibition hall for all of Huawei’s innovations – sometimes welcomes African presidents who come to see up close the solutions they want to launch in their country. This year, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria and President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were there. Each of these very high-end visits leads to agreements around the digital transformation of industries, universal connectivity with 5G projects by 2024, talent training and sustainable development. The latter on which the Chinese equipment manufacturer wants to be avant-garde, while the international debate on the decarbonization of industries rages.
This Green in which the Chinese giant is committed
62 km northeast of Shenzhen is Dongguan, a railway hub in the Guangdong region and historically one of the first Chinese cities to host foreign-invested industries. It is also the one that hosts Huawei’s Ox Horn Campus, spread over 1.4 million m2, built in the European style between 2015 and 2018. A true city within a city, the campus notably houses the group’s financial management. where investment decisions like the one planned in Africa over the next five years are made. There is also the health and sports laboratory where innovations linked to these two sectors and deployed around the world are materialized, but also R&D offices, employee residences, living spaces, a library of 110,000 books with architecture inspired by the French National Library, and large green spaces dotted with solar panels. “Electricity is becoming a major issue and the green aspect is very important in our strategy”explains Adnane Ben Alima, recalling the range of innovations from the equipment manufacturer linked to renewable energies or green hydrogen.
Regularly accused of espionage by the West, the question often comes up about the African continent where Huawei is constantly expanding its influence. We also remember the accusations concerning the headquarters of the African Union in 2018, brushed aside by the Chinese equipment manufacturer and the president of the AU commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, evoking “false accusations”. Even today, the question almost makes the top management of this behemoth smile, whose capital is mainly held by its employees through a stock option system.. “Huawei is the most audited company in the world and the results of ces audits are available online. We have demonstrated the compliance of our systems with all standards. We have seven transparency centers around the world to which the 1,500 operators with whom we work have access via their teams of around a million very high-level technicians”defends Edison Xie. And Adnane Ben Ali d’ajouter: “we carry out turnkey operations and no longer have any access to the networks once delivered. In fact, the logic that subscribers are monitored is a myth”.
While technology is establishing itself in all societies and in all industries, and the fever for innovation is intensifying from North to South, from East to West of the African continent – with startups whose fundraising often escapes crises, governments which more or less understand the urgency of jumping on the bandwagon and Africans fond of High Tech – the African offensive is not the prerogative of Huawei. In 2020, for example, the American Apple returned in force to these markets with an assertive strategy, to name just one. This rush towards the continent will certainly have its rendezvous with time to measure the impact – on African economies, particularly in terms of technological transfer – of the ambitions displayed today.
话题: Africa, Huawei