Hakainde Hichilema Innovation Fund Launched

A partnership has been launched by the government of Zambia and Huawei has been launched with the goal of improving innovation in the country.

The fund, to be known as the Hakainde Hichilema Innovation Fund, will see 50 young Zambians receive scholarships from the Chinese telecommunications company to innovate in the ICT sector. It will be available to undergraduates on ICT or STEM courses.

 The National Technology Business Centre will become a new innovation hub on government property in the nation’s capital. Each of the selected 50 must have a “viable idea ready for incubation” and at that point will receive $1,000 dollars to help them actualise their vision, explained Phil Li, Huawei Technologies Vice President for Southern Region. “We hope this will go a long way to help them work through their ideas and actual them for national ICT solutions,” he said.

 Felix Mutati, Minister of Technology and Science, emphasised the agenda is part of the government’s aim to see a digital transformation in the country, as a subset of the broader goal of modernising the Zambian economy and reaching middle income status by 2030.

 Minister for Education, Elijah Muchima, emphasised the country had a long way to go when it came to digital skills but that through technology development can be brought to all corners of Zambia.

 “My ministry believes that through technology and digital systems we can take the learning resources to all parts of this country, including in areas where these resources are needed most, so that every learner in Zambia has the digital skills to unlock their potential,” he said.