According to Chinese media, Xinhua News Agency, Huawei and the African Union (AU) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. According to the reports, the MoU centers on strengthing broadband, Internet of Things, cloud computing, 5G and artificial intelligence, etc. This cooperation is to enable the development of the African Union in the field of ICT.
It is understood that the Memorandum of Understanding aims to establish closer cooperation and information exchange between Huawei and the AU. The two sides are also committed to tapping local talents in Africa and increasing local employment opportunities by providing young people with ICT knowledge and skills. According to Deloitte, an international accounting firm, 660 million Africans will be equipped with smartphones by 2020. In addition, Global Mobile Telecommunications Systems Association believes that smartphone penetration rate in the region will reach 50% by the end of 2023.
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This is one of many deals signed by Huawei in these turbulent times. Despite the restriction from the US government, many regions (especially developing regions) still prefer Huawei’s equipment. The Chinese manufacturing giant offers one of the cheapest alternatives to relatively expensive American equipment.
Since the United State government added Huawei Technology to its entity list, it has been one bad news or another for Huawei. A couple of companies and associations have withdrawn their association from Huawei as a result of the ban. The likes of AMD, ARM, Google, Intel, Qualcomm, etc. have suspended cooperation with Huawei. Associations like Wi-Fi Alliance, JEDEC (Solid State Technology Association), SDA (SD Association) and PCIe standard also canceled Huawei’s membership. Although, the above-listed associations have since rescinded their decision.
