Jacqueline Shi, president of Huawei Cloud global marketing and sales service.

Huawei Cloud yesterday committed to accelerate the digital transformation for local industries over the next five years, supporting the execution of South Africa's National Digital and Cloud Policy.

The business held its inaugural Huawei Cloud Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, pledging to boost the country's digital economy.

Huawei Cloud has been in South Africa since 2019, and its public cloud business has expanded more than 16 times, placing it among the top three cloud providers in the local Internet as a service market.

Jacqueline Shi, President of Huawei Cloud Global Marketing and Sales Service, was one of the summit's leading speakers. She explained how “Huawei Cloud is committed to building a digital South Africa with social equality, cultural diversity, and economic prosperity. We strive to build a new intelligent foundation through continuous technological innovation.

“Huawei Cloud hopes to build a local platform that empowers South Africa and its enterprises. Only when the local ecosystem is sustainable and healthy can the digitisation dream be fully realised."

Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, director-general of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, explained how the state intends to provide an enabling environment for all sectors to contribute to the digital economy.

She went on to say: “Our priority remains driving the digital transformation process. This will enable inclusive growth and job creation. We also want to reduce poverty and address essential services like healthcare, education, security and e-government.”

Jordan-Dyani also discussed the critical role that public cloud infrastructure will play in unlocking growth potential, as well as the government's priority on data sovereignty.

“Partners like Huawei have assisted us in making sure we have stored our data locally,” she added.

"Without the cloud, there can be no digitisation," noted Huawei South Africa CEO Will Meng.

He stressed the company's commitment to developing localised capabilities and services in South Africa.