Huawei Technologies will accelerate the development of connectivity infrastructure as a critical priority for Kenya’s digital transformation. Leo Chen, President of Huawei Sub-Saharan Africa, said this infrastructure will be more advanced, future-proof, inclusive and accessible.
In his opening keynote for AfricaCom 2023, Africa’s largest tech conference currently underway in Cape Town， Leo Chen laid out how the two most considerable transformative forces, namely digitalisation and decarbonisation, are driving humanity towards an intelligent world. He said Kenya can ride a new wave of “digital-physical convergence”, which marks a new phase of digitalisation, to leapfrog development in the digital economy era.
Huawei Technologies angles for piece of Kenya’s Kshs 17 billion Data Center Industry
“That is because, in the future, more people, things, and applications will be connected,”
He said.
“This process will generate far more data than it does today. So, we need a more secure, reliable, and developed network to act as the foundation for digitalisation,”
Added Leo Chen.
Achieving transformative digitalisation, as Kenya is doing with its ambitious plans to digitalise government services on the E-Citizen Platform and digitise public records, requires the use of leading-edge connectivity technology such as Huawei’s 4G, 5G and even 5G advanced solutions.
According to Leo Chen, as Kenya progresses with laying out 100,000 kilometres of fibre optic internet cable across the country, the connectivity technology needs to be inclusive and future-proof to support future application scenarios, like innovative solutions in vertical industries and smart homes.
He pointed out that Inclusivity addresses connectivity in remote areas and supports devices and applications for people with various disabilities.
“This means fibre connectivity can be complemented with the wireless RuralStar solution to connect rural regions with broadband coverage, access to the Internet, and digital services. This bridges the digital gap and enables inclusive development,”
Said, Leo Chen.
According to Leo Chen, providing computing resources to the government, public and SMEs through establishing national cloud data centres will drive the innovation ecosystem.
“By establishing ‘e-Government Clouds, the government can improve operational efficiency and provide citizens with one-stop and innovative services.”
He noted. Adopting these digital technologies will also help drive decarbonisation across the continent. He said the ICT industry can help reduce global carbon emissions by 20%, equivalent to 10 times its emissions, and make digital energy production more efficient.
“For example, across more than 10 African countries, we have built over 6,000 green sites and helped carriers save Kshs 4 billion (USD 40 million),”
Explained Leo Chen.
