Undergraduates in ICT programmes at Zimbabwean universities will participate in a one-week virtual workshop offered by Huawei to improve their technical abilities.

Huawei's 2023 Seeds for the Future programme, which begins next month, will assist in providing further ICT upskilling to Zimbabwean technology undergraduate students.

With high data costs and currency constraints to import software, many Zimbabwean business founders and students are finding it difficult to expand their tech expertise and talents.

On Tuesday, Huawei announced the 2023 Seeds for the Future programme in response to this demand.

Approximately 50 undergraduate Zimbabwean university students studying ICT will receive virtual technology training from November 20 to 27.

“Huawei runs Seeds for the Future, ICT Academy, ICT competition, internships, campus recruitment programs to develop technologies and talent in Zimbabwe,” said Yang Shengwan, managing director of Huawei Zimbabwe, during the event's inauguration in Harare.

He went on to say that this was part of the Chinese technology giant's efforts to connect academic prowess and the industrial transformation.

Simelisizwe Sibanda, Zimbabwe's deputy minister for tertiary education, innovation, science, and technology stated that the Huawei ICT up-skilling programme was critical in growing tech talent because "ICT skills are in high demand" as a result of the country's rapid "digital evolution."

"We must invest in training them (Zimbabwean youths) in ICT for the transformation of our economy," she stated. “There is a gap between classroom knowledge and real-world abilities (and) Huawei is helping to bridge this gap through the Seeds for the Future programme."