Huawei Nigeria partnered with ABU to establish the Huawei ICT Academy. ABU's HIA has quickly emerged as the leading Huawei academy in Nigeria.
By Muhammed Bashir Mu'azu, Professor, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria Head of ABU–Huawei Advanced ICT Academy Support Center
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Nigeria, is one of the top universities in sub-Saharan Africa. Established in 1962, it serves over 80,000 students across 108 departments in 18 faculties. The university also has 6 Centers of Excellence and 16 research institutes, along with a Medical College and a Division of Agricultural Colleges.
ABU is dedicated to providing top-tier education through state-of-the-art facilities and a multidisciplinary approach that welcomes students from all backgrounds. The university aims to generate innovative ideas and practices that meet the needs of its local community, Nigeria at large, and the world as well. ABU's core strategy is fostering partnerships with industry leaders, particularly in the field of IT. These collaborations enhance skills transfer, bridge the digital skills gap, and cultivate a pool of highly skilled IT professionals. Key partnerships include collaboration with Huawei, UNESCO's International Centre for Higher Education Innovation (UNESCO-ICHEI), and other prominent ICT organizations.
The ABU–Huawei collaboration journey
In August 2018, Huawei Nigeria partnered with ABU to establish the Huawei ICT Academy (HIA), aiming to equip students with essential ICT skills. This collaboration introduced multiple initiatives, including the Huawei ICT Academy program, Huawei ICT Competition, and Huawei ICT Job Fair. ABU's HIA has quickly emerged as the leading Huawei academy in Nigeria and, eventually, in the Huawei Southern Africa Region for skills development and talent cultivation.
ABU's HIA program began with just two certified instructors but has grown to over 20 certified professionals today. It benefits both the university and its students by providing valuable IT training at little to no cost, while promoting Huawei's certifications and technologies.
Nigeria's first Huawei ICT Academy Support Center
In November 2022, the Huawei ICT Academy Support Center (IASC) partnership was officially established, making ABU the first IASC in Nigeria. ABU IASC quickly kickstarted into motion, concentrating on key operations for associated ICT academies. As a result, ABU has become the primary hub for new and existing Huawei ICT academies, fostering their collaboration and innovation in Nigeria.
ABU IASC plays a crucial role in the relationship between Huawei, academies, instructors, and students. Additionally, ABU is developing strategies to integrate Huawei certification programs into traditional academic curricula and has implemented the Train the Trainer (TTT) model to equip instructors for new HIAs.
ABU has set up a Huawei lab where instructors and students can gain hands-on experience with networking and IT infrastructure equipment (as shown in Figure 1). The lab is equipped with routers, switches, access control, firewall, storage, and access points.
Figure 1: ABU IASC lab settings, as well as supported tracks and certifications
ABU IASC is committed to delivering TTT programs for instructors at associated ICT academies, with a particular emphasis on Huawei courses, including in datacom, WLAN, security, AI, cloud, storage, big data, and computing (openEuler, openGauss, and Kunpeng). To support ABU IASC's success, Huawei provides on-demand cloud access to online labs specializing in AI and cloud. This support has empowered instructors to develop highly skilled ICT talent among students and enhance their learning and expertise.
Since 2022, ABU has successfully conducted over 20 TTT sessions, training more than 300 instructors and certifying over 80 instructors. This initiative significantly enhances the skills and expertise of educators, ensuring they are prepared to teach the next generation of ICT professionals.
The first Huawei Advanced ICT Academy Support Center
Between June and August 2024, ABU IASC was evaluated based on several key metrics, including the number of associated HIAs, certified IASC instructors, active IASC classes, HIA instructors, active HIA students, and active instructors from associated HIAs. Having met or exceeded the required benchmarks, ABU IASC was given the status of Advanced IASC.
In August 2024, the Huawei Advanced IASC Partnership was signed, allowing for the delivery of training programs globally. This milestone marks the first instance of an IASC in the Huawei talent development ecosystem receiving Advanced IASC status. The ABU Huawei Advanced IASC is associated with 90 certified HIAs from Nigeria, Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, and Namibia, 27 Certified IASC instructors, and 100 Huawei Certified Academy Instructors (HCAIs) with associated ICT academies.
This Advanced IASC status empowers ABU IASC to oversee and manage any HIA on behalf of Huawei and to train instructors from any associated HIA, initially focusing on the Southern Africa region. Consequently, the cross-border TTT program was initiated, with 18 instructors in the Security track and 19 instructors in the Datacom track from universities in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, and Namibia.
The official award ceremony took place in September at the Huawei IASC Roundtable in Shanghai, China, during HUAWEI CONNECT 2024. Huawei presented the award of Advanced IASC to ABU.
ABU helps Huawei ICT Academies make outstanding progress in university-enterprise collaboration and improve talent cultivation. ABU is promoting a long-term plan for all associated ICT academies to develop two more HCAIs, and looks to further integrate Huawei course materials into established curricula to bring tech to the classroom.
The operations of ABU IASC prioritize trust and efficient delivery, and enables a friendly 24/7 support system. This ensures:
- Relevance of academic projects through curriculum integration
- A growing community of certified trainers
- Unlimited access to industry training materials
- Reliable training delivery
- Greater exposure to international partnerships and collaborations
- Improved overall training results
The roadmap for the Advanced IASC focuses on expanding from the Southern Africa region to include the Northern Africa region. It also aims to engage non-English-speaking (Portuguese) instructors whenever feasible and to explore partnerships with international organizations to promote Huawei courses and skills development programs.
Playing a key role in transforming the future of students
Five students from the ABU HIA have achieved the prestigious Huawei Certified ICT Expert (HCIE) certification (as shown in Figure 2): Aliyu Isah (Huawei Nigeria), Hamza Beita (Huawei Nigeria), Fahad Danladi (Huawei Nigeria), Idris Muhammad Abubakar (Huawei SA Regional Office), and Abdulqadir Babagana Musa (Huawei Ghana).
Figure 2: Students from the ABU HIA recognized as Huawei Certified ICT Experts (HCIEs)
It was a moment of immense pride for ABU HIA when one of its distinguished alumni, Aliyu Isah, now a Product Solutions Manager at Huawei, made a presentation to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu on September 5, 2024 in Beijing at the Huawei R&D Center.
Hailing from a humble background in Katsina, Aliyu earned his Diploma and Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from ABU Zaria. He honed his IT skills at ABU HIA, where he obtained HCIA and HCIP certifications in several tracks, including datacom, AI, storage, cloud, and big data. Additionally, he participated in the Huawei ICT Competition, winning First prize in the Cloud Track during its sixth edition. After graduating, Aliyu interned with Huawei and became the first Nigerian to be directly employed by the company. This moment marked an incredible milestone for ABU HIA, only surpassed by his extraordinary presentation to the President of Nigeria in China. It serves as a testament to the power of dreams nurtured at ABU HIA and employed by Huawei.
