Huawei Hosts Zambia’s First Telecom Congress

Zambia’s first ever Telecom Congress took place over the course of two days last week. The event was hosted by Chinese information and communications technology (ICT) company, Huawei, at the Lusaka International Convention Centre (LICC). Huawei, as a global provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices, has been operating in Zambia for the last 18 years.

The inaugural congress was themed ‘Lighting up ICT for Zambia Digital Life’, and brought together government officials and heads of industry to discuss the present state of the nation’s ICT sector and ideas for its future. Its aim was to explore the various opportunities among government and private corporations to support Zambia in meeting its growing technological demands.

It was at this congress that the Technology and Science Minister, Felix Mutati has announced there has been a 300% growth in mobile money transactions in Zambia in the period from 2021 to 2022. Mutati’s disclosure that K300 billion was transacted via mobile networks last year is the latest in a series of welcome developments concerning progress made in the country’s financial technology sector.

Mutati, in his comments about the recent growth of mobile money transactions, pointed to the work done by new technologies – such as 5G – in increasing ICT usage in Zambia. But he stressed that the country cannot go digital without good connectivity. To this end, the government are planning to erect an additional 300 phone towers in an effort to increase accessible and affordable networks – even in rural areas.

The minister did note, however, that “the old model of erecting towers must be revisited”. He pointed towards technology providers being responsible for providing cheaper options, saying, “we also need appropriate financing to make connectivity faster”.

Huawei’s leading representative at the Congress, its Vice President for Carrier Business Chen Li, reiterated the company’s commitment to aiding Zambia achieve this technologically connected future. Its ability to provide 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G services means there are cost effective solutions to provided connectivity in rural areas. Doing so, according to Li, would mean “enabling more people to connect to the world.”