Huawei South Africa recently held the second of its Huawei ICT Academy Job Fairs in 2022, an initiative designed to promote local Huawei-certified ICT Talent to Huawei partners and offer them the opportunity to advance their careers.
“This year we are celebrating 48 colleges that have been registered as Huawei ICT Academies. That on its own is an achievement considering that this partnership with Huawei is just three years old. A lot of strides have been made and we urge certified colleges to maximise the opportunity to ensure that their learners and lecturers register for the courses offered,” said Mr. Tebogo Kekana, Principal of Sekhukhune TVET College and Limpopo Provincial Chairperson of SAPCO (South Africa Public Colleges Organization).
During the job fair, interviews are arranged for students with Huawei partners, giving them valuable experience as they enter the job market.
Twelve partner organizations including Altron, BCX, Sizwe, and Nexio were present at the fair offering 40 job opportunities.
The job fair also offers partners and ICT Academies the chance to learn how valuable the skills students pick up in the Huawei ICT Academy are.
“By bridging the gap between learning and finding a career, the Huawei ICT Academy programme and the Job Fair events can speed up the process of moving you toward your career goals,” said Xola Pikoli, Chief Digital Officer at M Technologies (Pty) Ltd.
“An internship allows you to try out a career in a low-stakes situation, helping you to make more informed decisions on what you want to do with your life. Our M Technologies internship programme offers you opportunities for networking, on-the-job training, personal development, mentorship, and guaranteed placement at the end of the programme.”
“As TUT, we mark seven years of a successful partnership with Huawei and we are so delighted with this collaboration as we can see the positive results of building this ecosystem,” said Zamikhaya Maphundu, Lecturer and WIL Coordinator at the Tshwane University of Technology.
“Most of our students are easily integrated into the workforce because of their relevant skills that are aligned with the industry. This is driven through upskilling programmes, where Huawei has been an especially helpful partner, assisting us through initiatives such as its ICT Skills Competition, Huawei Seeds for The Future, the Huawei Job Fair, and many more.”
Lucky Koena Manamela, a graduate from Tshwane University of Technology, who is now a contract employee at Mela Technologies after the 2022 July job fair shared his journey with Huawei ICT Academy.
“If it was not for Huawei ICT Academy, and the certifications within this program, I would’ve never gotten an invite to the job fair, and the HR of Mela Technologies would have not found me,” he said.
Huawei has actively invested in ICT talent development to assist South Africa’s digital transformation journey since 2017.
The Huawei ICT Academy programme is another example of an initiative where Huawei partners with universities and colleges to train, develop, and certify some of the best ICT talent across South Africa.
More than 5 000 students have been trained through the Huawei ICT Academy Programme to date and more than 150 students have successfully been placed in jobs through the Job Fairs. Through these and other initiatives, including the Huawei Graduate Programme and Seeds for the Future, Huawei aims to boost South Africa’s ICT talent pipeline by some 10 000 people a year.
