Next year, a total of 2,000 young Nigerians will secure ICT trainee positions at Huawei following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the West African country's government, led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and senior executives from the Chinese IT tech giant.

Partners have committed to Huawei's Seeds for the Future programme to boost ICT among Nigeria's youth.

Speaking at the ceremony to mark the official signing of the agreement, Osinbajo said the Nigerian government regards the MoU as highly important because ICT is one of the most expedient ways for people to secure decent jobs.

"In the change agenda, how to grow the economy is important, and we want to create ICT hubs and support existing ones. We thank Huawei for this initiative of advancing technology in Nigeria, apart from the job creation itself," Nigeria's Vice President said.

The VP said Nigeria has a strategic relationship with China and he urged the Chinese firm and other companies to look beyond just selling their products in Nigeria and consider establishing factories and manufacturing plants in the country.

"Chinese investors should encourage not just the selling, but also the manufacturing of products in Nigeria," VP said.

Responding on behalf of the Huawei delegation, Richard Cao, the Vice President of Huawei West Africa, said Huawei wants to partner with the Nigerian government. "Huawei hopes to become a strategic partner to the Nigerian government in the future ICT planning and development, and would continue to expand its contributions and training programmes in Nigeria," he said.

According to the agreement, the 2,000 trainees would be selected by Nigeria's ministries for Labour and Communications under the supervision of the Minister for Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and his Communications counterpart, Adebayo Shittu.